Dragon Figurines
by DaemonicKitten
Summary: All their lives, Hunter and Blake thought they were regular people. Sure, Ninjas and Power Rangers, but human none-the-less. What happens when they find out differently, and what’s this impending disaster? HunterxOC, BlakexTori.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer** : I don't own anything but the idea for the fic. Again, I am just making it up as I go along.

**Note** : All new computer equals all new computer parts and programs. That means, possibly a lot less spelling mistakes, and hopefully, not too many problems uploading the chapters. I haven't had a muse in a while, so sorry for the long wait between stories.

I was going through writers block and some problems with a friend (everything's better now, though), so I'm sorry for the delay in my next story. I've been struggling to think up a basic storyline for the Dragon Clan, but I think I finally found one.

Ideas for the monsters and such are being taken from Slither and Resident Evil, as well as some random ideas that I'm trying to combine.

**Summary** : All their lives, Hunter and Blake thought they were regular people. Sure, Ninjas and Power Rangers, but human none-the-less. What happens when they find out differently, and what's this impending disaster?

**Pairings** : Blake/Tori and Hunter/OC

I could have gone Hunter/Kelly for this one, but since many of my readers liked my OC, Angie, I am going to work OCs again. Now, that's not to say it's going to be the same one, since it's a different story, but she'll be similar.

I want to try and stick to the idea of my OC that I have in my head, but I hope to keep her from being Mary-Sue. In other words, she won't be quite so helpless, but not a Ninja or stronger than the Rangers, either.

Also, I don't know about pairings for the others. I found it difficult to focus, with so many pairings and OCs before. I might stick some of the guys with their counterparts at some point, or make mention of an OC for others, but I don't know where this story is going yet, so I don't know about really integrating a whole other person into the fic.

**Rating** : I wasn't sure what to rate it, to be honest, but due to reviews, I have upped it to 'M', to be safe.

**Legend** :

"Speaking"

_Thoughts_

_**Telepathy**_

**Flashback/Dream/Vision**

(Change of POV/Scenery)

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(Hunter's POV)

Staring into the mirror, my eyes passed over the reflection staring back at me. Exhausted blue eyes with dark circles underneath, showing the lack of sleep, and a pale face. My hair was a mess; thankfully, I just got out of the shower, but still… It stuck up in every direction and I seriously thought about getting a haircut as I ran my hands through it absently.

No, I wasn't sick. It was horrible dreams I'd started having, shortly after becoming the Crimson Ranger.

Groaning a little, I closed my eyes and picked up my hair brush, running it through my hair in an attempt to tame it. _Man, what's going on? I'd say these were just nightmares, but they're so vivid!_ I thought as I put my brush back.

It was the same, night after night. I can hear a woman's playful laughter, and somehow, it almost seems to draw me. But that's only the beginning…

Closing my eyes, I ran a hand along my neck and felt the chain I always wore. I didn't even open my eyes as my fingers drew along it, to the crimson, crystal figurine at the end, hanging at the center of my chest.

I'd had it for as long as I could remember. Somehow, just knowing it was still there soothed me. Grasping it lightly, I allowed myself to be drawn back and remember the most recent dream.

**Flashback/Dream**

Looking around, I was standing in the center of a dark, dense forest, at night. I was alone, and in my Ninja Leathers. I didn't really know why I was there, or where I was, but I started wandering around, trying to find a path of some kind.

"Hello?" I called, hoping maybe I just wandered to a new area of the forest around Ops. I think a part of me was hoping one of my friends would answer. "Hey!"

My only response was a playful giggle.

Stopping cold, I looked around. The sound was close by and it sounded like a woman's voice. "Is someone there?" I called again, narrowing my eyes as I squinted at my surroundings. "Tori?"

It was a woman, so my logical conclusion was that it was Tori Hanson, a friend of mine and fellow Ninja. The resident female of our team, Water Ninja and quite obvious love interest of my younger, adopted brother, Blake. Still, I don't think I'd ever heard her 'giggle' like that.

Another giggle and a flash of movement ahead of me. Whoever it was, they were running off.

"Hey, wait!" I called, running after them. "Who are you?"

_**It's coming.**_

Stopping cold, I stared at the figure ahead of me. Dressed in a flowing black gown, was a woman with long black hair. Her back was to me, so I couldn't make out her face, but in the shining moonlight, her skin seemed pale.

What made me drop into a defensive stand was that on her back were two white wings. But, not angel wings. White scales glimmered in the bright moonlight, and silver webbing seemed to glitter softly.

_**You must hurry. It's coming.**_

A woman's voice. Soothing to me, but filled with fear, her words seemed to pull me to her. It wasn't _me_, but something inside me that I could feel fighting to get out.

Another giggle, but this one was different. It was almost insane, or maybe, desperate? The figure in front of me shivered violently as the giggle sounded.

_**If you don't….**_

The figure spun and I cried out as I was met with a skeletal face. The body began to burn and disintegrate right in front of me, and there was a flash of blinding light, making me shut my eyes and throw my hands up in front of me, as if it could protect me.

_**If you don't…the world…**_

The voice sounded broken and full of sorrow.

Opening my eyes, I felt them widen in horror as my heart skipped a beat at the sight in front of me. No longer was I in the forest, nor was it night.

The sky burned a foreboding red, the fiery sun beaming down on the almost barren landscape. The air was hot and humid, and I could feel myself becoming dehydrated quickly. The ground was void of plants, but for a few scraggly bushes, and littered with bones. Millions of bones, millions of bodies, human and not human alike.

There were the occasional trees, but they were dried up and burning on fire. The ground was parched and cracked, and pieces of clothing and other light materials fluttered by in the dry wind.

It looked like hell on earth, literally.

Screams echoed n the air, but only faintly, and as I listened, they grew fainter, until they faded away entirely.

In front of me, I barely recognized the city of Blue Bay Harbor. It sat empty, burning and filled with death and decay. The buildings burned away, and were in ruin. Bodies littered the streets and sat in their cars, in the middle of the streets.

The streets themselves were filled with holes, the pavement having been torn up by some force. Street lamps were on their sides, bicycles were fallen across the street.

Nothing moved.

Nothing lived.

_**The world is doomed.**_

The voice cracked slightly and I looked around. "Who are you?!' I demanded as loud as I could, feeling my chest squeeze in pain. Looking back to the destruction, I felt my eyes widen when I was instead, in front of Storm Chargers, in the same condition as the rest of the city. "No…"

_**Your friends…**_

Running ahead, I tried to pull open the door, only to burn my hand on the metal knob and watch as the door fell inwards, no longer attached to the wall. "Guys!" I shouted, racing into the store.

Standing behind the counter was Kelly Holloway, the owner of Storm Chargers and my boss. Her red hair was down her back, and she wore a red vest and blue jeans. Her back was to me, and I sighed in relief to see that she was alright.

It meant there was hope for the others.

"Kel!" I called slightly as I jogged up behind her. Glancing briefly down at myself, I wondered how I would explain the leather. Until I realized I was clothed in jeans and a crimson t-shirt. _Weird._ I thought briefly, before shrugging. I was just too relieved to see someone alright, to pay any attention to anything else, at the moment.

Looking back up, I reached out and tapped Kelly's shoulder, tugging slightly to get her to turn around. "You wouldn't believe….." My voice trailed off in shock as I choked on the humid air.

Instead of turning, her arm fell off, right before her body fell sideways and shattered like glass.

_**Your friends will die…**_

It wasn't threatening, but fact.

Everything darkened, and I spun to find a navy-clad body on the ground. Shaking my head, I felt tears come to my eyes as my mouth hung open limply. _No. No, no, no…_ I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

I_ wouldn't_ believe what I was seeing!

"Blake…" I swallowed heavily as my voice came out in nothing but a weak whimper. Hot tears trailed down my cheeks as I stared in horror. My only family left, my baby brother…

He was lying face down on the ground, his suit hanging loosely off his decayed body. I felt ready to throw up at the sight of the black spear sticking out of his back. It looked like it was made from bones or something, and was caked with dried blood. I also noticed a piece of light blue material on it that I recognized as a part of Tori's Ranger uniform.

_**I can't do this myself… Help me.**_

Suddenly, I cried out in pain as my chest seemed to tighten unbearably tight. There was a powerful burning sensation against it and I lifted my shirt and looked down at the crystal figurine I'd had for as long as I could remember.

Images fluttered in my mind. Flashes of ruby scales and blue eyes. Claws and fangs and webbed wings, like on the girl.

Looking up, I was surrounded in flames. They were hot, but didn't burn me. If nothing else, I felt my body strengthen from them, felt drawn to them. Beyond them, I could see ice crystals floating around the decayed body of my little brother.

_**Awaken…**_

The figurine I wore was a dragon. A small, elegantly carved crystal dragon. Not much was known about the necklace, but that it was the last thing my birth mother left me before I was adopted. The crystal was a mysterious, natural crystal of an almost blood red color.

But now, as I stared in shock at it, it was glowing brightly.

Feeling stabbing pains in my back, I cried out again and dropped my shirt back over my body, curling up in a ball as my legs gave out and I collapsed on the ground.

**End Flashback/Dream**

Frowning deeply, I shuddered at the memory, recalling how I woke up to find Blake hovering over me with terror in his eyes.

Opening my eyes, I stared at the crystal dragon, hanging from my neck like it normally did. For a moment, I debated on telling Cam about all this, and seeing what he had to say, but I quickly dismissed the thought.

_It's just a dream._ I insisted firmly, mentally, as I walked out of the bathroom to get dressed for the day. _I can handle a dream._

As I went into my room, I closed my hand into a fist, and winced at the pain that shot from my palm.

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Tester chapter, if I like how this program loads and if people like the chapter, I'll leave it up. LOL.

This is the first chapter to my newest fiction. Sorry it took me so long, major writer's block! Then…I had to go and get addicted to facebook. LOL!! So yeah, updates might be slower because I have to tear myself away to work on this.

It might seem kind of dark at times, but it's just dreams of a possible future. I'm also stuck on the title, so don't mind if it's called Dragon Figurines. LOL

Hope you like it.

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"Help us, Blake."

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R R please.

Thanks everyone for liking my previous stories so far. :)

Tenshi


	2. Blake's POV

**Disclaimer** - I don't own anything but my OCs.

**Note** - You will probably note some similarities in this fic, to the previous one I did, but they aren't related.

**Mrs.Quincy25** - I'm glad you like it so far, but it hasn't even started yet. LOL.

**GinaStar** - Thank you. :) No, this one isn't related to the other story, although there will probably be some similarities.

**Lavendermystic** - Thank you for letting me know about the rating. I didn't think too much about it, but I wasn't sure what to rate it. I'm trying to keep it from getting too dark or graphic, but I definitely want it to be rated right. :)

**Roxy-blue** - The dreams will probably get dark at times, but I'm hoping to keep it from getting too bad. I'm glad you like it. :)

**JuseaPeterson** - Yeah, the dream was creepy to me too. LOL. Sorry about that. That's exactly why he's reacting the way he is, because those images are stuck in his head. I have much more to come, I'm just going slower on the updates, because of everything I have to do lately. Busy week. :S LOL

**Note 2** -

The idea for this was totally random and out of nowhere. I was sitting on my computer one night, desperate to write _something_, so I opened a document and started typing. After a few tries, I got this and I seem to be able to flow with it, so that's what I'm doing.

The idea of the dreams is dark, yes, but I am trying to keep from making it too bad. I re-edited them to remove mentions of blood and such, to try and make it a little better. I watch a lot of horror movies, so that's probably where I am getting a lot of ideas from.

Hmm, other than that? I'll let you know as I figure things out. LOL

Oh, again, updates will proabaly be slower. A bunch of things ganged up on me, so I am a little sick, exhausted, and still heavily addicted to facebook. LOL!

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(Ops, Blake's POV)

Man, I don't know what's been going on, but I've been feeling really drained lately. I've been sleeping ok, I guess, except when I wake up to hear Hunter screaming in agony.

Yeah, trust me, that's _not_ a nice way to wake up!

Running into his room to find him thrashing around, curled up in a ball, and screaming in pain. That mysterious burn on his palm. No, I was scared. Scared for him and what he was going through, that I had no idea about.

I knew it had something to do with dreams… I mean, after all those times of finding him in the middle of a horrible nightmare, it was pretty obvious, and he wasn't exactly subtle when he asked me about my dreams.

I watched silently as he walked unsteadily to the table and stood with the others, seeming really out of it. His one hand went to his chest briefly, like I'd noticed him doing before, and grasped something through his top before he relaxed again.

It made me think of my own necklace. The last thing from my birth mother. No one knew I had it, not even Hunter. I never meant to really keep it from him, but I just never got the chance to tell him about it. Thinking about the little figurine on the chain, I felt my hands instinctively reaching for it, only to fight the urge and force them back down to my sides.

_Yeah, I've had some weird dreams, but nothing like Hunter's._ I thought in confusion.

**Flashback/Dream**

I was with Tori on the beach. She was teaching me to surf in the evening, but we lost track of the time and before we knew it, it was night.

"I think that's enough for today." She said with a smile, brushing her long blonde hair out of her face as she grabbed her board. "You're gonna have more than enough to deal with, soon enough." She added with a strange gleam in her eyes.

Wiping water out of my hair and off my face, I frowned, catching that odd tone all too easily. "More than enough?" I repeated in confusion, walking over to her. "I can handle Sensei's training, and this."

Her grin grew a little more as she raised an eyebrow and cocked her head to the side. "What makes you think I was talking about that?" She laughed a little before shaking her head and shoving me playfully. "It's so much more."

Turning, she dragged her board back to the shore and stood it up in the sand, keeping her back to me.

"There's so much you need to learn, and not much time." Now her playful tone faded away and was replaced with a sadder one. "You have to hurry."

I felt my eyes narrow as I walked forward. "Hurry? What are you talking about?"

She didn't respond, but her head slowly sank down, as though she was looking at the ground. "Help us, Blake." Her whisper reached my ears on a hot wind.

"BLAKE!!"

Spinning to my left, I felt my eyes widen as I saw the others fighting off what looked like people dressed in rags, only their skin was almost blue and they had spider-like legs coming out of their backs.

Looking around in confusion, I noted that I was in the middle of one of Blue Bay's parks, and no longer on the beach.

"Blake! You have to transform! Hurry!" Tori called as a monster shoved her back, and she collapsed to her knees.

I looked to my wrist, to morph and help them, only to find I was already morphed. "But…" Looking up again, I frowned behind my helmet. "I'm already transformed!"

"No, your other form!" Hunter called next, staggering back as he too, took a powerful blow to the chest. "Bro, help us!"

_Other form?? What other form?!_ I mentally demanded in confusion.

_**Help them. Awaken.**_

Gasping in shock, I felt the pendant I always wore burning against my chest and clutched it with my hand. Looking down, I noticed that the sapphire crystal dragon was glowing brightly, and stared in shock.

Then, everything went black.

**End Flashback/Dream**

Somehow, I had a feeling there was more to this than I was catching, but that was always the same point that Hunter's pained screams would wake me up.

"Blake?"

Jumping a little in surprise, I looked up to find everyone staring at me. Feeling my face warm up, I scratched the back of my head and turned to Cam, who'd called me.

"Are you ok? I called you three times and you didn't seem to hear me." He stated with a frown as he leaned over and got right in my face, to look into my eyes.

Taking a step back, I leaned away from him and nodded. "Yeah, I'm good." I stated with a smile. Looking around the room, it was obvious that no one bought my story, and my eyes settled on Hunter, who looked more confused than before. I knew I could tell Sensei about my dreams, but to do so would mean having to tell about waking up to Hunter's screams.

Part of me winced at that. I was worried sick, but the idea of talking about my bro behind his back… I was really torn about what I should do. So I did the only thing I could.

"Hunter, can I talk to you for a minute?" I asked quietly, giving him a look that told him it was important.

I saw Shane open his mouth to say something, but he closed it again after getting a warning look from Tori, and shrugged with a sigh.

Looking to the others, he looked back at me a moment before nodding slowly, and the two of us walked up the stairs to the entrance of Ops, heading to the forest line.

"What's up, Blake?" Hunter asked wearily.

Turning to him, I crossed my arms over my chest and gave him a stern look. "What's going on?"

He had his hands raised to rub at his eyes, and paused at my words, looking at me in confusion. "Huh?"

I reached out and grabbed his wrist, pulling his hand away from his face and pointing out the pink palm, where the burn was. "Hunter, what's going on? And don't tell me it's just a nightmare!"

Looking at his hand, his face darkened for a moment. "I…" He paused and his frown deepened. "I dunno." He answered grimly, after a moment. "It's just dreams, like I said, but it… There's…" He shrugged and looked confused.

"Ok and why do you keep reaching for something under your shirt?" I asked, watching as his hand reached up and clutched the object, once again. I knew he seemed to be drawing comfort from it, but he never really used to do it before these dreams started.

"What's with the questions all of a sudden?" he demanded back, his fist tightening over the unseen object.

I raised an eyebrow and glared at him silently, a look that told him not to bother trying to change the subject.

Closing his eyes, he pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand and sighed deeply. "Something my mother gave to me when I was younger." He said wearily, reaching into his top to pull out a little crystal figurine.

I felt my eyes widen as I tentatively reached out and picked up the crystal dragon, holding it gently in my hand. "Why didn't you tell me?"

He seemed troubled by me holding the figurine, but didn't move to take it away. "It's just a necklace."

I nodded. "Yeah, and so is this, bro." I stated, dropping the figurine against his chest to reach down my own collar and pull out my own necklace. "My birth mother left it to me and Hunter…"

His blue eyes went wide as he looked at it and slowly, they lifted to look at me.

"They're related to the dreams, aren't they?"

Swallowing heavily, he staggered back as a haunted look crossed his eyes, and he leaned heavily against a tree, curling up on himself as he closed his eyes tightly. "Bro, don't make me remember, please." He asked shakily.

My brother wasn't one to sound so scared. Whatever he was seeing, it must've been horrible. "We gotta tell someone."

He shook his head violently. "No."

"Hunter, yes, look at what it's doing to you!" I almost shouted. "I've never seen you so shaky and haunted. And these dreams, they gotta mean something!"

He looked at me silently and I knew he wouldn't be able to do this all on his own.

"Listen, I'll be there and I'll help you, but we gotta tell Sensei, at least." I insisted. "What if what we saw comes to pass, because we tried to ignore it? My dreams were pretty nasty, but yours were worse, I'm sure. Bro, Hunter, you really wanna take that chance?"

I could see from the look in his eyes that he didn't. So taking his arm, I led him back to Ops. We were going to sort this out, one way or another.

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Yeah, as you probably noticed, Blake's dreams aren't that bad.

I explained this to JuseaPeterson before, but want to explain it to my other readers, as well. Hunter is not weak or a scaredy cat. His dreams were absolutely horrifying, and then, to top it all off he saw the decayed body of his brother, and Kelly in his dreams. He just doesn't wanna relive seeing them, especially his baby brother, like that.

Hope you liked it.

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"Can't catch me!" came a distinct feminine voice, giggling playfully from somewhere ahead of us.

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R R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	3. Chapter 3

**GinaStar** - Thank you, I'm glad you like it.

**Roxy-blue** - Thanks. I didn't have much thinking to do with those chapters, they just sort of popped out like that. LOL.

**Mrs.Quincy25** - Thank you. :)

**JuseaPeterson** - Well, Blake's dreams haven't gotten too bad, no. I'm still debating on whether or not I go further into his dreams and such. I got behind, due to new chat systems on facebook, but I've been working on it and have quite a bit written. Yeah I didn't notice, but I seem to have a lot of their bond in this so far. Maybe I should have put Hunter and Blake as the main characters, because although it's romance, it deals a lot with them. Trust me, I have more of their bond coming up, too. And yes, you have mentioned it, LOL, but I totally agree.

Well since it's mainly Hunter/OC, the Blake/Tori parts will be small until I work them up. As it is though, I'm just writing what I can see in scenes, as far as interaction between them all. As for who's talking to them, I'm up to that point in my written fiction, but it'll be a little while until I post that chapter. I only just wrote it yesterday or the day before, and there's at least 5 chapters to do. LOL.

I've been working on the fiction, and yes, I have about 8 chapters written but I'm only updating once a week to allow myself time to write more, so I'm not rushing on a single chapter.

Anyways, got to go, but here's the next chapter. Thank you to all who reviewed. Again, it'll be roughly 1 chapter around every Thursday. If, for some reason, I can't post on that day, I miss one, I'll post double chapters a little bit later, in the same week.

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(Ops, Normal POV)

"And _why_ did I let you guys talk me into this, again?" Hunter asked with a frown from the meditation room he, Blake and Sensei were currently sitting in.

After listening to Blake tell the others about his dreams, complete with blushing at the mention of surfing with Tori, he'd balked on telling them about his dreams. It was a lot harder than he thought. He had to relive the pain and terror that ran across his heart during the whole thing.

Some parts he was able to tell them about, including the mysterious girl, but others…

"Bro, your dreams are so bad, you couldn't even tell us everything." Blake stated as gently as he could.

Sensei nodded. "Yes, and you both have stated about hearing the mysterious feminine voice calling you. This woman you saw, Hunter, I'd like to see her as well."

They were planning a meditative trance. Hunter would go to sleep, and the dream would come to him. Then Blake and Sensei would join him in meditation, so they could talk to him and see what he was seeing.

He swallowed heavily, feeling the blood drain out of his face. "I gotta relive it all, again." He stated shakily, to himself.

"You will not be alone, Hunter." Sensei stated soothingly, placing a furry paw on his leg.

"Why can't we all just go in, in a trance?" he asked almost desperately. Images of the ruins and desolate Blue Bay, of the bodies, they flashed across his mind, making him shudder. It probably wouldn't have been nearly so bad, if the images of Kelly's body decaying into dust, and Blake's skeleton lying on the ground didn't keep crossing his mind as well.

"There's no guarantee, it'll be the same." Blake said with a frown. It was obvious he could tell how much this bothered Hunter, but he knew it had to be done.

Nodding a little, Hunter closed his eyes and lay in the center of the room, on the mat. On one side of him Blake sat, holding his one hand with his eyes closed in concentration. On the other Sensei sat, sitting in the center of Hunter's other hand, his own eyes closed as he too concentrated. Swallowing heavily, Hunter nodded to himself. _Like I said, it's just a dream. _"Well, here goes…" he said uncertainly as he willed himself to relax.

_I can handle a dream._

(Hunter's POV)

**Dream/Vision**

After what felt like forever, I finally got tired of just lying here and opened my eyes to tell them it wasn't working.

Only to find I was in the middle of a dense, black forest.

Blinking a moment, I slowly sat up, seeing Blake with Sensei on his shoulder, right in front of me. "Hi, guys." I said quietly as I looked around.

It was the same forest from my dreams, only this time it was different. Before, the dreams showed it to be clear out, at night, with a full moon shining down on everything. More or less, it was the same, only this time, I could feel a chilling wind and the ground was coated with at least four inches of dense mist.

The sound of bird calls echoed through the air and I shivered at just how much more real it seemed now.

"This is where you always wake up?" Blake asked with a slightly freaked look as he took in our surroundings. "It's….dark?" he offered with a bit of a shudder.

Raising an eyebrow, I slowly got to my feet, briefly holding my dragon figurine around my neck. "Trust me. Compared to the rest of the dream, this is wonderland." I said dryly.

"Alright, we should continue." Sensei stated firmly. Turning to me, he nodded. "What happens next?"

I looked around with a frown. "I dunno. Usually I sit here until I hear a…" Feeling my face heating up slightly, I looked to the ground and scratched the side of my head in embarrassment. It was kind of embarrassing to tell them that my horrible nightmares began with a girl's giggle.

As if on cue, a giggle sounded and my head shot up.

"That! That's what always starts it!" I shouted, pointing into the woods. "Who's there?" I called instinctively.

Another giggle and crashing through the woods. I could hear the sounds of movement in the background, and I swear there was the sound of whispering voices.

"Can't catch me!" came a distinct feminine voice, giggling playfully from somewhere ahead of us.

That made me frown. "She never said that before." I stated in confusion. "Normally I just hear the giggle, chase after it and end up facing a woman with her back to me. When she turns around, she's a skeleton." I recalled with a shiver.

"Better hurry!" the playful voice called, sounding even farther away.

I felt something tugging me to chase after her and before I knew what I was doing, I was dashing through the woods, chasing someone I'd never even seen before. "Hey! Wait!" _What am I doing?!_ All rational parts of me told me this was wrong, and I could be putting myself in danger, but then I heard her giggle and something seemed to snap inside me, pushing me to run faster.

It was more of an instinctive side that was leading me. Instinct to find her.

"Hunter!" Blake's voice came from behind me, crashing through the woods after me. "Bro, wait!"

"Catch me if you can!" she called in a sing song voice.

As I ran through the woods, I called upon my ninja streaking ability to increase my speed. Soon, I saw the back of a head of long, black hair ahead of me, ducking under a branch as she ran. Her long black gown trailed behind her, and I could make out knee-high black boots under it as she jumped over a fallen log.

Frowning, I sped up even more, knowing Blake and Sensei were right behind me. I was getting closer by the second, feeling my heart pounding in a combination of adrenaline and fear as I fought the urge to reach out. I was so close, I could touch the back of her head.

"Wait, please!" I called. "I just wanna know what's going on!"

She glanced over her shoulder and I stumbled over my own feet, my mind sending me a flash of the skeletal face.

But that wasn't what I saw.

Light blue eyes that flashed with playfulness, and a pale skin tone. Long bangs that swept in front of her eyes as she ran, and as she brushed them back, the playfulness was gone, replaced with deep sorrow.

"Catch me, Dragon Clan!" she called with a deep, searching look in her eyes, like she was seeing into my soul. "Find me!"

There was a blinding flash, and I stopped cold, almost losing my balance as I rubbed at my eyes.

_**It's coming.**_

My body shuddered violently at the sound of the voice and I knew what was coming next. Crashing behind me made me spin, but I relaxed as I spotted Blake with Sensei safely nestled in his hands, breathing heavily as he stared at me.

It made me aware that I, too, was breathing heavily, and feeling a sharp pain in my lungs that I wasn't aware of before.

"Is this…?" Blake trailed off and coughed a little. "Is this what you meant?" he asked as he nodded to something behind me.

Feeling my heart pulse in fear, I slowly turned around, seeing the unmistakable figure of a woman directly in front of me. Everything was exactly like it was in the dream. Her same long gown, her back to me, the wings on her back…

"Hunter, we heard everything she called to you." Sensei called slightly.

_**I can't do this alone. You must hurry.**_

"Yeah, and I can hear that, too." Blake stated with wide eyes as he moved to my side. "It's like it's in my head."

I nodded numbly, desperately wanting to wake up right about now. I knew what was coming next.

_**If you don't….**_

The figure spun around and screamed loudly, the skeletal face decaying as I stared, paralyzed at it. The mouth opened inhumanly wide and the wings spread widely as the body decayed and another blinding flash of light caused me to close my eyes and shield my face.

_**If you don't… The world….**_

Screams. Faint screams, echoing on the dry, humid wind.

"Bro." Blake's voice was cracking and weak with horror. "What was…? Was that…?"

Opening my eyes, I turned to find him staring at me with wide eyes, filled with compassion and terror. I knew he understood a little of why this haunted me, but there was still so much more yet. Nodding slowly, I looked around, once again finding myself on the outskirts of Blue Bay.

Recalling the way the dream went from there, I closed my eyes tightly and clutched the necklace almost desperately, mentally pleading with myself to wake up.

"Hunter, I understand that this is-"

"No." I stated firmly, opening my eyes to look at the guinea pig I'd just cut off. "You don't understand. It only gets worse."

I didn't think it was possible, but Blake's eyes widened even more as he looked around at the bodies and barren, ruined land. "Worse? Than this?!" He cried in disbelief. "How in the world can it get worse??"

_**The world is doomed…**_

Suddenly, everything went fuzzy and I blinked a few times to clear my vision, finding myself in front of Storm Chargers. "Guys, I can't do this." I said quickly, taking a step back. _I don't wanna see it again._ My mind flashed to the body lying on the ground of Storm Chargers.

_**Your friends….**_

There was a movement and I spun to find the woman from before, walking towards the store with tears trailing down her face. Her dress was torn and tattered, and she held a worn silver bow in her hands. Her face was unusually pale, and her wings hung limply at her sides as she stopped a few feet from me.

"Your friends will die." She stated quietly, looking over the ruins. Turning to me, her eyes went to Blake before darting back. "I can't stop it alone. I need your help, Dragon Clan members. Thunder Brothers."

"Who are you?" Sensei asked softly, his eyes trained on hers.

Her eyes shot to the guinea pig and narrowed as she stared at him. "They….must awaken soon." Her voice was weak and weary. "I wait, but their time is running out."

"We're supposed to find you?" I asked uncertainly, recalling her earlier words.

She nodded slowly, the bow dropping from her hand. "I wait."

"But how do we find you?" I asked, taking a step forward.

"The places you have seen will guide you." She said her voice fading. "The forest…is the key." She took a few steps back as the bushes next to me burst into flames, making me jump.

_**Find the Haunted Forest.**_

Feeling the pain in my back and the burning in my chest, I cried out, clutching at the figurine. I heard a cry next to me, and found Blake clutching his own chest as well, in obvious pain.

"Hunter! Blake!"

I winced and collapsed to my knees, hearing Cam's voice calling us. Hearing the echoes of Tori, Shane and Dustin's voices, I knew they were trying to snap us out of the trance.

Slowly, everything turned black, but before it did, I felt a soothing, cool touch on my burned hand and a cool sensation run through it before it faded.

**End Dream/Vision**

(Normal POV)

"Hunter! Wake up! Blake!!"

He winced as a headache hit him. Slowly opening his eyes, he was met with the worried faces of the Wind Rangers, and the Samurai Ranger. Well, all but Tori that was, but Hunter already knew why he couldn't see her.

Remembering the cool sensation in his hand, he closed it into a fist and frowned in confusion when he was met with no pain. Raising his hand to his face, he saw that it was healed right up, as if it had never been burned to begin with.

"Man!"

Hearing the groan, he swallowed heavily, just realizing how dry his throat was, and turned his head slowly, seeing Blake wince as he sat up with Tori's help.

"I've heard of some pretty nasty nightmares, but that was…" Trailing off, he shuddered a bit and turned to Hunter in confusion. "But we didn't see inside the store."

Hunter immediately nodded. "Trust me, that's a good thing." He stated dryly as he slowly sat up. Immediately he was hit with a dizzy spell and brought his hand to his forehead as held still, and after a moment, with Dustin and Shane's help, he managed to sit up fully. "I _so_ don't wanna go through that, ever again!" he stated firmly.

"Well, will someone at least tell us what's going on?!" Cam demanded loudly with a slight glare. "We're sitting in the other room and suddenly all I hear is screaming! I thought you guys were being murdered!"

"Probably would've been less painful." Blake muttered as he rubbed at his chest a little.

Sensei, who had been quiet up until that point, nodded a little. "Hm, those are most definitely not ordinary dreams. I sensed a slight telepathic link coming through, and I believe that the woman we saw holds the answers."

"But finding her is gonna be fun." Hunter stated as he winced a little and stood up, the headache and dizziness fading after a moment. "I remember her saying something about the 'Haunted Forest'?" He really didn't want to have anything to do with this. He just wanted to forget any of it ever happened, and return to being a normal Power Ranger that fought evil on a daily basis.

But…as much as he wanted to put it all behind him, He was constantly haunted by images that pushed him. He didn't want to risk it, ignore the dreams and possibly have all that really happen.

Frowning, Cam exchanged looks with everyone else and remained silent. Everyone knew he could probably find it on his mega computer, but no one moved or said a word. It was obvious they were all waiting for some sort of explanation.

Looking to Blake, Hunter raised a single eyebrow and shrugged. It was obvious to them all that he wasn't going to say a word, so it was up to Sensei and Blake, who looked pretty shaken himself.

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Hope you liked it.

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"They brought a rodent with them, a talking one."

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R R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	4. Chapter 4

Ok, here's the next chapter. Sorry folks, I got so into social chat on facebook that I almost forgot to post LOL. This is also our first look at the mysterious girl of Hunter's dreams.

I'll post responses to the reviews in the next chapter. It's late and this is last minute.

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(Unknown Place, Unknown's POV)

_**Are they coming?**_ A deep voice rasped with a wheeze.

Frowning as I walked into the cave, I brushed my long, dark hair out of my face and walked further in, hitching up my skirt as I stepped over some rocks. "I think so. The one, the elder, he seems to believe it's all just bad dreams." I replied as I entered a large cavern and stopped a moment.

Allowing my eyes to adjust, I took in the sight before me. I was in a huge cavern with a ceiling that could not be seen, it was so high. In the center of the cavern was a large pond, the calm, crystal clear waters glowing softly. Along the majority of the edge of the pond were navy, crimson and clear crystals, all slightly glowing with power. The clear ones glowed the brightest, and with a frown, I noted that the navy and crimson ones grew duller every day.

The air smelled of fresh fallen rain and the water, and I could sense the energy vibrations from the crystals.

_**Our time is running out.**_ The voice spoke again, a mental wince shuddering through my head.

The water glowed a softly, lit by the crystals all around it. Walking over to a smooth, flat crystal, I sat down, knowing my face was etched with the worry I felt. My heart clenched slightly as I wished I could do more to help.

"They brought a rodent with them, a talking one." I stated in confusion. "He seemed more willing to believe the dreams than they did."

The voice was silent and I wasn't sure what to make of it. My worry grew as I realized that the other voice hadn't spoken up at all, since I joined them.

The voices belonged to the spirits of two ancient dragons. I had my own to deal with, but she was sleeping, regaining her strength as I stayed with the others. She was a large white dragon, her ability to heal and her weapon of choice, a bow. Since we'd bonded, she became me, but when I closed my eyes I could sense her, like a second presence, inside me.

The main voice that spoke was the Navy spirit of the two who remained un-bonded to their human sides. The Navy was the younger, but for all intents and purposes, and I believed he was the wiser. His element was ice, and his weapons of choice was his elemental powers.

The voice who remained quiet, was the one that worried me the most. His host was the one not willing to believe the visions I'd sent him, with their help. He was the elder, crimson dragon spirit. His weapons of choice was his fire powers and a staff.

They were brothers, these dragons. Soul Brothers, I called them, related by blood as closely as two spirits could be. They depended heavily on each other, so I worried when they remained quiet. I knew they were talking mentally.

I knew a little of what the Bradley brothers went through, through images I'd come by when I entered their minds for the visions. They were very heavily dependant on each other, which was brought on by so much loss in their lives. But, I think that part of it was also brought on by how close their dragon spirits were.

Looking around at the crystals, I winced and closed my eyes as the crimson ones flared up brightly.

A slightly deeper, more irritated voice growled. _**Bonding to you was not so difficult, why must they be?**_

I wanted to laugh, but knew he was being fully serious. "They were brought up differently, maybe." I said quietly. "I'm sure they're coming. They just have to find us."

A navy mist formed over the surface of the pond, a dragon forming of it. _**They had better hurry, if they truly want to stop the end of the world from coming.**_

Frowning deeply, I looked away, my mind flashing back to the images I'd seen. Ones I knew they couldn't handle right away, so I'd blocked from them.

**Flashback**

(Normal POV)

A man dressed in black, held a black crystal. Within it laid the energy of a powerful, corrupted dragon.

Grinning evilly, he raised the crystal and laughed maliciously, staring at it like it held all the answers to his prayers. He then turned to the others with him and his eyes widened with unbridled insanity as he raised his hand.

Black ichors dripped from his fingers, also dripping from the ceiling, and where ever it touched them they cried out in agony, clutching at the spot. When they pulled their hands away, the spot was marred black, and grew quickly to encompass their entire bodies.

Their screams filled the caverns around them, the ichors taking control and mutating their bodies. Some lost appendages, or grew extras. Any who may have remotely resembled humans before, quickly changed to things far from human.

Once it faded, raggedly dressed zombies stood in front of him, their faces horribly distorted and spider-like legs sprouting from their backs. Their eyes were nothing but empty black holes that seemed to suffocate anyone who looked at them, and their mouths were filled with jagged teeth, ready to tear the flesh off people's bodies.

"It's time." The man in black growled lowly, his eyes shining with black light. He looked to the crystal and raised it to his chest. "Time to end it all."

Taking the crystal in both hands, he held it over where his heart would be and laughed.

"AWAKEN!" he shouted, and the crystal glowed brightly with a burst of black energy. The small ball shattered in his hands, and the mist encompassed his body. His agonized screams filled the cavern as the ones before him had done, and when the mist slowly faded, a massive, black dragon, with hollow black eyes, stood in the center of the room. Opening his mouth, he let loose a stream of black energy that soared out of the cavern and into the world beyond.

The sky darkened to a threatening black as creatures began to pour from the clouds, down on the helpless people below.

The scene changed to a park, filled with kids playing and parents chatting. The sky darkened and everyone stopped what they were saying and doing to look up in confusion. Then, they began to scream as demons flew down, burning them to nothing but bones before any of them could move.

Some weren't so lucky though. Like before, ichors oozed onto their skin, but instead of mutating them, they burned them slowly, rotting them from the inside out and making them die horrible, painful deaths.

Their screams echoed in the air.

Six figures ran through the streets, fighting off demons as they went. It was easy to tell that the Crimson and Navy ones were the heart of the team. The Blue hung back to stay with Navy, and the Crimson took hits to protect him.

Heart of the team, if Navy fell, so would Crimson and Blue, weakening the team drastically. If Crimson fell, so would Navy and Blue. Same effect.

They fought well and made quite the dent in the demon ranks, but without some sort of power boost, they were overpowered. Soon, they were backed into an alley, many of them too injured to fight.

Their end was approaching fast, as the black dragon finally took flight, bursting from the ceiling of the cavern, to wreak havoc on the world beyond.

**End Flashback**

(Girl's POV)

_**What do they know of the figurines they wear?**_

Snapping out of my thoughts, I looked to the pond and blinked a moment to clear my mind, taking in the question. "Nothing." I replied quietly, seeing the larger, ruby colored spirit next to the sapphire one. "Only that their birth mothers left them to them."

_**Then they know nothing of their importance.**_ The ruby dragon stated in slight frustration.

Knowing what he was getting at, I slowly got up and walked forward, standing at the edge of the pond. "They do know the necklaces are important, and it seems the figurines give them comfort, but they don't know why, other than that they are the last things they have from their birth parents."

He stared quietly for a moment before bending his head down. _**Let us hope you are right.**_ He stated in slight reluctance as he closed his blue eyes.

Reaching forward, I gently ran my hand over the ghostly cheek, frowning a little at the cold sensation as it met the mist. "They'll come." I said quietly, as strongly as I could. _They have to._

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A look into the mysterious new girl.

Hope you like it.

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"So let me get this straight, you're both having…visions, of a huge catastrophic event that heralds the end of the world."

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R R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	5. Chapter 5

**JuseaPeterson** – LOL! I've been addicted to social chat since day one! LOL. I'm a self-admitted facebook addict. LOL Then again, with the….people…I have on my friends list, can you blame me? ;)

Yeah, the dreams are pretty graphic I know, but I didn't want to make Hunter go through the horror of seeing _that_ again, which is why I changed that part of the dream. True, it is focused on Hunter, so… I'll just leave it. Well, I didn't see him tolerating Cam's attitude. Maybe Shane or Dustin, but since Sensei was so wise, and Blake IS his brother… It seemed like an obvious choice. There's a lots to do with their bond, in my fic, because I love it.

Well I figured it was about time for a look at the girl's POV and what was going on. The heart of the team, well I explained it in an email. I meant it more like, if Blake fell, Hunter would be too devastated to fight, and Tori would be heartbroken. If they did fight, it would either be half-hearted or out of anger, which would get them killed. And if anything happened to Hunter, Blake would be too devastated, and Tori would be hurting beyond belief to lose a friend, and filled with worry for Blake. Either way, it would take the three of them out of the battle, and weaken the team massively.

**Pinklen98** – Oh god, I know! I'm always in the social chat application, chatting with friends and making new ones. LOL! I keep telling myself 'work on your story' then turn to social chat and get stuck there like a zombie. LOL! Glad you like it. :)

Well, they're the good guys. LOL! I hope they figure it out, too. I didn't want to jump right into things, but I'm also moving the story along. Wow, it's been so long since I've looked at it, I have to get writing again! LOL

Well it's Hunter. You know he never does anything the easy way. LOL! I'm sure he'll come to believe in it….I hope. LOL

**GinaStar** – Yeah, it's a little gruesome, hence the rating. I was hoping to remain in teen, but if it's that bad, I'd rather rate it properly. I didn't think it was that bad, but then again, with the movies I watch… (Shudders) LOL! Thank you :) I'm glad you like it.

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(Ops, Normal POV)

"So let me get this straight, you're both having…visions, of a huge catastrophic event that heralds the end of the world." Cam stated with a frown.

Hunter exchanged a look with Blake and sighed before turning back to the Green Samurai Ranger and nodding.

"And you've been having the dreams for a while, but insisted on ignoring them." He continued with an unimpressed tone.

Tori frowned a little and narrowed her eyes at him warningly, and Shane and Dustin took a couple steps away from the table. Not that they were scared, but they were giving her a clear path to Cam, in case she decided to launch herself at him. They knew he was pushing it, but remained quiet, obviously torn about what to say or do.

Narrowing his own eyes, Hunter reluctantly nodded again.

It looked like Cam had a lot more to say, but glancing at his father, he noted the disapproving glance, and the warning look on Tori's face, and sighed. Removing his glasses, he rubbed tiredly at his eyes before nodding himself. "Alright, what's the name of the place we're looking for, again?"

"The Haunted Forest." Hunter stated with a weary sigh.

Looking at his brother, Blake knew something was torturing him and frowned deeply. Even at seeing his nightmares, he knew there was still a large piece missing, and it bothered him to no end. His big brother was suffering and wouldn't let him help. Blake was torn between being frustrated and being terrified.

Turning to his computer, Cam began typing, and everyone sat down to do their thinking.

"So, we've gotta go to a haunted forest to find a girl with dragon wings, who can help us stop the end of the world." Shane deadpanned, looking a little lost. "Dude, that's…." Frowning, he shrugged, obviously not knowing what to say.

Dustin just nodded, looking _very_ lost. He remained quiet, though, and stared at the table, as if lost in thought.

Tori stared at her lap, but every once in a while, she'd sneak a glance to Blake, her eyes shining with worry. She knew of his dreams, and felt happy that he really liked her, but worried about what they were going to face.

Hunter was lost in his own little world, images from his nightmares burned into his mind and keeping him from being able to focus. He knew that somehow, the necklaces he and Blake wore, were the keys to it all, but he didn't know how or why. And that girl… He didn't know whether or not to trust her. She seemed genuine, but for her to suddenly contact him in his dreams, it seemed kind of suspicious.

Blake was lost in his own little world, as well. Mostly, his worry about his brother ran rampant, but at the same time, he also worried about Tori. Well, he worried about everyone, but them mostly. Who knew what was coming, and they were just going to rush in. What if it was all a trap by Lothor?

No, something about it all struck him as too horrible to be fake. Somehow, he just _knew_ it as real!

Cam, well Cam was lost. He was angry that they hadn't come earlier and told him, but at the same time, he understood their worries. He was confused about their necklaces, and that neither of them knew the other had a basically identical one, until that very day. Searching the super computer's database for any information, questions ran through his mind, but he pushed them aside, trusting his father's judgment over anything else.

Sensei Watanabi just went into meditation, feeling drained from the stress the nightmarish vision had put on him. Praying for their safety, he allowed himself to relax and his mind to wander.

A few hours later, Cam sighed and nodded. Turning to the others, he noticed that Hunter was forcing himself to stay awake, obviously refusing to let himself fall into another of those nightmares. Blake was asleep, but his head was against Tori's shoulder, and she kept running her hand along his arm, like a way to let him know she was there and he was alright. Shane and Dustin were both exhausted and bored beyond reason, dozing off but trying to stay awake.

"Guys." He stated quietly, feeling the ache in his back from being seated for so long. "I've found a little information on the Haunted Forest, but no locations as of yet." Stretching a little, he shrugged. "You might as well go home."

Hunter nodded a little, his eyes unfocused. Turning to Blake, he just stared at his baby brother for a bit, obviously torn between waking him up and just letting him sleep. After a moment, he shrugged and looked into Tori's eyes, silently trusting her with his brother, before getting up and leaving Ops, heading home.

(Later that Night, Hunter's POV)

Three cups of coffee later, and I was close to walking across the ceiling, my nerves were so high strung, but I didn't want to fall asleep. Sure, my dreams held the key to our visions and finding the girl, but I kept seeing Blake's body and Kelly… It was all too much. Why couldn't the girl just come to me personally? Or even go to one of the others?

Shaking my head, I closed my eyes and winced as a dizzy spell hit me. The combination of too much coffee and not enough sleep, I guess. Pulling off my shirt, I leaned back against the couch and relaxed. It was a nice, warm night, but right now, that wasn't helping me stay awake.

Rubbing my eyes with my free hand, I placed my coffee cup on the kitchen counter and went into the living room to sit down. Once I was done, I frowned when I realized the room seemed a lot darker than it normally did. I heard a loud bang of thunder and jumped a little in surprise, looking out the window and letting my frown grow deeper. "It was clear a few minutes ago." I mumbled to myself.

Raising an eyebrow, I let out a groan and leaned back against the back of the couch, covering my eyes and forcing my body to relax a little. "Ok, too much coffee then." I felt my eyes growing heavy and forced them open, sitting up straight and looking out the window.

It was clear again.

Narrowing my eyes, I stood leaned forward and carefully examined my room. The light level seemed normal again. I blamed it on my imagination and all the caffeine.

Reaching for the remote to the TV, I sighed and began to get a little irritated. I flipped on the TV and began to channel surf, trying to find something somewhat decent to watch, that would hopefully keep me awake.

Unfortunately, there was nothing interesting on, so I switched the TV back off again and sat back, staring blankly at the remote.

Closing my eyes again, I zoned out until I felt something connect with the back of my head. Jumping a little, I wearily realized it wasn't hard, and didn't hurt, but my eyes shot open anyways to find that my head had fallen back against the couch. Swallowing heavily, I blinked a couple of times. "That was a close one." I grumbled, lifting my head, fighting how heavy it was and how weak I felt. Shaking my head a little, I forced myself to lean forward and place the remote on the table.

…And heard a giggle.

Jumping up, I staggered a moment and closed my eyes to ward off a dizzy spell. "What the…?" Opening my eyes again, I looked around. The sky outside was dark and threatening, but otherwise, everything seemed normal. Frowning to myself, I carefully scanned the entire room with my eyes, trying to spot _anything_ that might be different, but I couldn't see anything. "Did I just…imagine that?" I wondered as I sat back down.

A cold breeze brushed against my face, and my eyes narrowed as I immediately looked to the window, only to find it was closed. Narrowing them a little more, I turned towards the front door, and stared blankly to find it open.

"Blake? Bro, you home?" I called as I got back up. Walking slowly over to the door, I looked down our hallway to find Blake's room door open and the light off. "Ok, guess not." I mused out loud.

"Catch me if you can!" came the sing song voice from my dreams.

Feeling my heart skip a beat, my eyes widened as I slowly turned to the door. There, in the doorframe, was the young woman from my dreams. Her dress was ragged, like she'd been fighting or possibly running through the woods, and her hair hung limply, covering most of her face but for a small sliver, revealing one sparkling, blue eye and a little of her pale cheek.

"No." I croaked, immediately feeling the chilling sensation of fear wash over me. I wasn't one to get so scared, but I didn't want to relive my dreams, I didn't want to go through it all again. "Please, I can't."

Her eyes seemed to darken with sympathy, and her smile faded. "You think it's all one bad dream, but I promise you, you couldn't be farther from the truth."

"Then help us!" I demanded harshly, having enough of her games. "Every time I see you, you're playing some sort of game, calling to me to catch you or find you! How can I do that if you won't help me?!" Closing my eyes, I rubbed them to clear away the drowsy feeling. "You keep saying you need our help, then help us now!"

There was silence for a moment, and I wondered if she'd run off or I was hallucinating. Opening my eyes again, I found her looking at a glowing form beside her. This one was of a crimson dragon, from what I could make out. Her look was intense, but she was completely silent, and the dragon was staring firmly at me.

"Uh, hi?" I offered weakly, feeling my heart pound under the intense scrutiny of the dragon. Not that I was scared, but if you had a _dragon_ staring you down, I'm sure you'd be a little freaked, too.

After a moment, the girl nodded and turned to me, a frown marring what I could see of her face. "The dragon will guide you." She said softly.

"Dragon?" I repeated dumbly, staring at the ruby dragon in front of me.

Now she giggled again. "Not him, a white dragon. She's small and will be tangible. She's…." Trailing off, she shifted her glance to the side. "She'll find you and lead you to the haunted forest."

I knew there was more to it than that, and once again I felt my suspicion rising towards her, but I also knew that if we were going to find this Haunted forest, we'd need all the help we could get, so hesitantly, I nodded. "Fine."

Her face turned to me completely and her eyes narrowed. If I hadn't known better, I'd have sworn she knew about my doubts. Any hint of playfulness had gone out of her face, as well as the softness. As she stared at me, I watched her eyes darken with hurt before she turned and walked down the hallway, fading into the shadows as if she'd never existed.

Turning to where the misty dragon figure had been, I blinked in surprise to find it was gone as well. Closing my eyes, I gasped sharply as I had the sudden sense of falling, and as my eyes snapped open, I once again found myself sitting on my couch, the TV off and the remote in my hands.

Frowning to myself, I looked around, figuring out that it had all been a dream. The sky outside was light, but filled with clouds, and the message light on the phone was blinking, showing I'd missed a call. Sighing heavily, I stretched a little, uncomfortably aware that I was sweating, and glanced longingly at the shower before the phone caught my attention again.

"Ok, that was weird." I muttered as I put down the remote and hit the speaker button on the answering machine.

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Hope you like it.

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"Seriously, I just wanted to race."

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R R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	6. Chapter 6

(Yawns) Early morning and kinda early posting but I'm soooo busy for the next few days and I wanted to post this before I forgot.

**GinaStar** – Oh, I'm not saying. LOL. I think it's a little obvious, like you said, but I'm still not giving it away. LOL! I'm glad you like this so far. It should start to pick up more very soon.

**Pinklen98** – LOL Yep. They're the good guys. What do you expect? Plus that pesky mysterious girl's not just going to say, oh ok, and leave them alone. LOL.

**Juseapeterson** – What? I can't leave it at the mention of Hunter's naked chest? LOL. Sorry, had to mention that. Yeah, I finally got off my butt and read your email, so I know where you are coming from. It makes sense. Big brother's senses. LOL He knows his baby bro's crushing. LOL Oh I've had those all my life. You wake up from a dream, usually scary, and think you are finally home and awake, only to have the dream somehow repeat itself. False awakenings, and repetitive dreams.

It seemed like it would be boring to have the dreams always follow the same pattern, plus I found that repetitive dreams aren't always exactly the same, so I went for changes to make them a little more interesting. Message? Well, if it's not part of my author's notes then you'll find out soon enough.

Glad everyone liked the story. Here's the next chapter.

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(The Track, Blake's POV)

"Seriously, I just wanted to race." I insisted firmly as I stared at Dustin. "Don't ask me why, I just woke up thinking to myself 'man, I could use a good race!'."

He looked at me completely seriously but slowly nodded as he finished pulling his gloves on.

Well, it was the truth. I slept soundly, not recalling any dreams, and when I woke up, I was sure my face was going to explode, when my found my head resting in Tori's lap. She was bent in an awkward position, her head laying on her arm on the table. I immediately felt bad, realizing that she'd fallen asleep like that, to keep from waking me up.

Later, Shane told me I fell asleep with my head on her shoulder, but after a while, she carefully shifted it to her lap and tried to settle herself more comfortably. Apparently, she'd had a look of worry in her eyes.

So, I wasn't only making Hunter worry, but Tori, too.

"So you went to sleep and woke up wanting to race." Shane stated with crossed arms from beside Dustin as the said Earth Ninja pulled on his protective racing gear. "It seems a little… I dunno, suspicious, if you ask me."

Yeah, it seemed suspicious to me, too, but I just wanted to relax and have a normal day for a change. "Look, it's a race, like I've done a million times before." I stated firmly, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath.

Nodding a little, Dustin offered an obviously forced grin. "It's cool, dude, I'll race you."

Nodding back, I pulled on my helmet and jumped on to my bike.

"Bro!"

My head spun at the cry and I stared at Hunter's approaching figure. He was already decked for riding and was walking his bike in our direction. Once he reached my side, he nodded with a serious look and jumped on his own bike, before pulling on his helmet. "A little bird told me you'd be here."

In other words, Cam, since Tori was surfing and Sensei would be meditating right now. "Cool." I replied with a bit of a grin, feeling more at ease with my brother at my side.

As Shane moved off the path, Dustin lined his bike up beside ours. The track was almost deserted today, and even though he raced freestyle, this was more or less just for fun, so he decided to race beside us. I kept my eyes on the Air Ninja as he looked at his watch, knowing the others would do the same. We were waiting for the signal to go.

Revving my engine, I took a deep breath, briefly wondering why I felt so strongly about racing today.

Then Shane gave the signal and we took off. All thought fled my mind as we sailed over the tracks, jumping the hills and sliding on the corners. All I could think about was how free I felt. The wind sailed past, chilling my body through my clothes, and I felt the occasional rock hitting me where the protective gear didn't cover. I sailed around another corner, the tip of my boot digging into the ground when I slid, but I pulled my bike upright again and took off, quickly taking the lead. My adrenaline soared, and I felt mixed fear and excitement.

Hunter was in second place, and Dustin was just behind him.

Noticing a small pothole in the ground in front of me, I carefully swerved around it and jumped the next hill.

Then I gasped and swerved sharply to the side as I tried to throw my bike off course.

There in the air, was a small white dragon with blue eyes. It floated there, easily in hitting range for any bikes that happened to jump the hill, but didn't so much as bat an eyelash when we came close.

I only had a few seconds to think as I flew through the air, but I swear I saw images race through my mind, from my life. Things I wished I'd said and done. Things I wished I hadn't said and done.

Hitting the ground, I rolled and bounced, feeling my back hit the ground painfully, and my leg scrape against a large rock. Crying out in pain, I felt my arm hit something hard and a cracking sensation, then everything stopped. Laying still, I wheezed painfully, struggling to get back the breath that had been knocked out of me, and winced strongly as my side pulled from the sensation.

I faintly heard other cries, but the sound of my bike's engine still running, droned over everything else. I could hear a squeak and thought faintly of a lose tire that I'd probably have to fix later.

Funny how I was lying there, probably hurt really bad, and thinking about the condition of my bike.

"Bro!"

"Blake, man! Are you ok?!"

The calls dragged me back from the blissful darkness, and with a groan of pain, I slowly turned my head to the side, feeling an unbearable ache in my one arm, and a burning in my leg. My back felt thick, like it was swollen, and stiff. Opening my eyes, I saw that everything was blurry and blinked a couple of times.

"Blake!"

Once I could see clearly again, I watched the little dragon land softly on the ground, a little ways away from me, and it stared at me with such sad blue eyes. If I hadn't known better, I'd have sworn it knew I was hurt, and felt bad, maybe guilty.

"BLAKE!!!"

Frowning, I tried to sit up and cried out as a sharp pain ran through my arm. Immediately my other arm came up to it and tried to touch it, but the pain only intensified. It also hit me that I couldn't move my injured arm.

_Great, dislocated or broken._ I thought with a mental groan, feeling tears leaking down my face from the agony I was in.

There was another squeak, only this time I realized it wasn't coming from the same direction as my bike. It was coming from the direction of the dragon.

"Blake! Hey, answer me! Are you ok!?"

That was Shane. I felt him grip my injured arm and couldn't hold back the agonized cry as the pain shot through my, making me close my eyes and threatening to knock me out. "Dude, don't!" I groaned weakly.

"Oh, man, what happened?!"

Dustin just got here. But wait… Where was Hunter?

Opening my eyes again, I carefully turned my head to both sides, trying to find my brother and hoping to god that he was alright. I saw the mangled mess that was my bike and winced under my helmet, thankful my injuries weren't a lot worse. Turning towards the dragon, I saw Hunter standing on the other side of it, staring at it with anger and suspicion. I could easily tell he was torn between attacking the dragon and racing to me.

But there was more.

There was a look of recognition, a look of knowing on his face.

The little dragon squeaked and turned it's face away from him, slowly getting up and walking towards me.

"Dude, what is that thing?" Dustin asked unsurely, in a defensive stand from my other side.

Shane remained crouched beside me but stared at it warningly.

Hunter immediately jumped into action and ran in front of it before taking up his own defensive stand and glaring darkly at it. "Don't you think you've done enough?!" He hissed almost savagely. "I won't let you hurt him any more than you already have!"

I watched as the little dragon winced and looked to the ground. I wanted to believe they were right and it was a threat. I mean after all, you don't just run into dragons every day. But somehow… "Bro, guys…" Hissing in pain, I raised my good arm. "I don't think… I don't think it's a threat." I wanted to believe them, but my instincts were telling me differently.

Shane looked at me in confusion. "Dude, it caused this!"

"Did you like, hit your head or something?" Dustin asked carefully.

Turning to him, I glared through my helmet. "No, the only thing I hit was my arm, thank you." I stated in irritation. I bit back a groan when my back gave a particularly strong throb of pain. _And my back, and my leg…_ I mentally added.

"Last night…."

I turned to see Hunter's back still to me as he glared suspiciously at the little dragon.

"Last night, I dreamt again, but it was different. There was a red dragon with blue eyes, but it was like a ghost or something, and the girl… I spoke to her. I told her we needed her help to find her and she told me…" His face showed his uncertainty, and his unwillingness to trust this girl or the dragon. "She told me a little white dragon would lead us to her."

"Little white dragon….?" Shane repeated as he stared at the said dragon in front of us.

The dragon stared back a moment before turning to me and once again starting forward. I saw Hunter tense and knew he'd do something, so I called to him quickly. "Bro, don't!"

He stopped immediately and shot me a look that I could easily read. He was worried, terrified of losing me. He didn't know what to think of the little dragon, but he didn't want to take the chance that it might attack or hurt me in some way. Still, he remained still as the little dragon approached me, watching it warily, ready to attack it at a moment's notice if it made the wrong move.

Coming to my side, the dragon stretched it's neck out and seemed to sniff at my injured arm. Then a little clawed foot reached forward and hovered over my arm, before glowing softly.

I felt a cool sensation spread through my arm, easing the burning pain and causing all trace of pain to fade. I felt the thick, swollen feeling in my back fade, bones shifting in my arm, which was pretty awkward, let me tell you. And finally, I felt it reach all the way to my leg, to heal the cut I figured I had.

Once it pulled it's claw back, I carefully moved my arm, marveling at the painlessness as I sat up slowly. I felt no stiffness or burning, no pain, nothing. It was like I'd never been hurt to begin with. Slowly reaching up, I removed my helmet and looked at the dragon in shock, noticing as it sat down with a huff and seemed exhausted.

Changing my glance to the others, I saw Shane and Dustin looking confused, but they no longer held their defensive stands or looks. Hunter, well he looked lost in general, but I knew him. The dragon healed me and that confused him, but he still doesn't want to trust it.

"Uh, ok. Thanks?" I offered cluelessly as I stood up. Turning to my bike again, I winced knowing that I could have been hurt a lot worse than a possibly broken arm. As I turned back to the others, I caught their eyes and raised an eyebrow. "So… What now?"

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Hope you like it.

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"Well, apparently our key to the Haunted Forest is here."

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R R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	7. Chapter 7

(Yawns) Well I'm back with another chapter. I have yet to go to the gym today, and have been getting behind in my writing, so my day has yet to basically start, but I figured, once it does, chances are I'll forget to post this. LOL.

Ok, on to review replies.

**GinaStar** – LOL I like the idea of a healer in the group. I'd have chosen Hunter for that part, but since my stories basically go with Hunter and Blake both only newly becoming Dragon Clan, well… Maybe in another fiction. LOL.

**Pinklen98** – Well, what can I say? I can see Tori and Blake, and wanted to make them a back pairing, so I focus on whatever little points I can actually see them going through. LOL Yeap, they finally got their 'guide' so to speak. LOL.

**JuseaPeterson** – Hey there, hope you're feeling better. I'm glad you understand and yeap, I get what you were saying. I'm trying to use different POVs whenever I can, but sticking to those the story is about, and those most closely linked to them. In other words, I'll be trying for Hunter's POV, Kendra's, Blake's, Tori's and maybe the rare POV from someone else. LOL. Well I tried to reenact it in my head, as if watching it on TV, to describe it.

Blake's thoughts on Tori sounded wrong? Or what you were saying in the review sounded wrong?

Well I didn't want it to be a graceful jump over the ledge and see a dragon walking along, so he gracefully pulled his bike over, kind of thing. LOL. Plus, it gave a little more action to the scene and would peak the readers' interest….I think. LOL.

I think things will definitely pick up from this point, a little. I'm still working on my fiction, just using any spare time I have to write a little at a time. LOL. I'm also trying to avoid landing myself in impossible to break through scenarios. Before I write, I ask myself, what do I want to happen and how do I want it to happen? Then I think of different ways to help avoid the major blocks.

Anywho, Thanks for reviewing everyone and I'm glad you like it:) (hands out stuffed thunder ranger dolls to whoever wants them) LOL

On to the story!

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(Ops, Normal POV)

"I still can't believe you managed to talk me into bringing it back to Ops with us." Hunter grumbled to Blake as they stalked through the woods.

Sitting comfortably in Blake's arms, the little white dragon huffed and it's blue eyes narrowed at him as it glared at him. Blake, himself, wasn't sure if he should feel awkward around it or not. Looking to his brother, he sighed. "Listen, you said the girl told you this dragon would lead us to her, right?"

He remained silent, refusing to look at his little bro as they walked. Honestly, he know Blake was right, but he just didn't want to trust the dragon or the girl. It all just left him with too many questions. Why him? Why now? Why like this? Those were only a few.

"And you saw that it was too exhausted to move after _healing_ me." He continued, pointing out the fact that the dragon had helped them.

Now Hunter's head shot to Blake and he pointed at the dragon with a glare. "Healing that wouldn't have been needed if it wasn't just sitting where it could be hit!" he shot back. "That dragon caused you to get hurt, so it's only right it healed you!"

"Yeah but it didn't have to let on that it had that power. It didn't have to heal me, but it did." Blake insisted firmly, knowing he was in the right.

In his arms, the dragon's head lowered as it's eyes dulled with obvious guilt.

Seeing it's actions, Hunter felt bad, but still didn't want to give in. Turning his back to them, he kept walking, wanting to run off but not wanting to leave Blake's side at the same time.

Shane and Dustin remained silent in the background, not really knowing what to say.

Soon enough they made it back to Ops and found Cam typing away on his super computer, as usual. Shane and Dustin exchanged a look before moving to the table and sitting quietly, pretty subdued by everything that had happened today, and Sensei was no where to be seen.

Moving to sit at the table, Hunter sighed and rubbed at his eyes. "Hey Cam." He called wearily.

Spinning from his computer, he had a glare set into his face. An expression that quickly changed to one of shock and confusion as he took in the white dragon in Blake's arms. "What in the world…?"

"I'll let Hunter explain." Blake stated firmly as he sat at the end of the table. He didn't want to get into the middle of this. This was all up to Hunter and like it or not, he had to learn to deal with it.

Glaring half-heartedly at his brother, Hunter groaned and shook his head. "Why me?" He whined a little in frustration before raising his hand. "Fine. Last night I had another dream."

"And you didn't mention that to me before, because…" Cam immediately got into his scolding tone.

Blue eyes narrowed at him as Hunter took a deep breath. "I had another dream last night…" He repeated pointedly. "Only this time it was different. I was in the apartment and the girl came to me. I guess it was gonna go the same way as usual, but I kinda snapped at her."

"You snapped at her…" Blake offered with an incredulous look.

"Can I explain or are you going to keep interrupting me?" Hunter snapped a little, glaring at everyone. "I told her we needed her help to find her. There was this red misty dragon that appeared outta nowhere, and she kept staring quietly at it, for a while. I dunno what she was doing. After a while though, she told me a little white dragon would lead us to her." He concluded, looking at the said little white dragon.

Having taken the obvious clue, it yawned deeply before stretching cutely in Blake's arms and standing up, hopping on to the table and walking to sit patiently, right in front of the blonde Thunder Ninja. Little white wings with silver webbing fluttered briefly before settling against it's back again and it sat perfectly still, as if waiting for something.

Hunter just stared at it blankly for a moment. Exchanging a confused look with the others, he shrugged before turning back to the dragon. "What?" he asked cluelessly.

"If this is the dragon that is meant to lead us to the girl, then I'll call Tori in." Cam stated before turning to his computer an doing just that. He ran a few programs silently for a moment before turning back to the others. "I still wasn't able to find a location for the Haunted Forest."

The little white dragon's head cocked to the side, and it's eyes seemed to narrow in amusement, but other than that, it showed no sign of understanding what was being said.

It didn't take Tori long to get back to Ops, and with a brief glance and wave to everyone, she quietly took her place at the table, eyeing the dragon warily. "So, what' up?" she asked with a slight face as she gave the guys a confused look and raised an eyebrow.

"Well, apparently our key to the Haunted Forest is here." Cam stated dryly, gesturing carefully with his hand towards the little dragon on the table. "Or so the girl told Hunter in his most recent dream."

Looking around the table, it seemed the dragon finally got fed up, or deemed everyone was there, and got up, flapping it's wings a little before eyeing Hunter closely and pushing off the table to float in front of him. Giving a little huff, it turned and fluttered over to the entrance to Ops before turning back and seemingly waiting patiently for the Rangers to get the hint.

"I guess it wants us to follow it." Shane said bluntly.

Shooting him a look that said 'no, really?', Hunter took the lead, with Blake right behind him, and walked over to it. "Well…." Taking a deep breath, he seemed to force himself to relax a moment, and nodded at the dragon. "Lead the way." He muttered reluctantly, making a gesture with his own hands.

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Hope you like it.

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I stared in muted horror as Blake jumped off the cliff…

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Ok, obviously the above line is only a partial quote, but I wanted to be evil today and leave you wondering what was going to happen. LOL!! Don't worry, the story is still only just beginning.

R R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	8. Friend or Foe

**GinaStar** - Oh I know. But to a point, his stubbornness can be cute. LOL. If I ever saw him walking by shirtless, I'd walk into a light pole about 4 times before realizing I wasn't going anywhere. LOL!!! Sends Ninja Hunter over Don't worry, I'm sure my mind has come up with every possible scenario. LOL!

I have to wonder, is a bad gutter mind, and vivid imagination a bad combination? LOL!!!!

**Pinklen98** - Well I'd put him in danger, yes, but I'd never take him away from Hunter like that, no. LOL. I mean, I'd never put them through that kind of pain. The team can go off and begin their adventure to get the power to save the world. They still have a loooonnnggg way to go! LOL

**JuseaPeterson** - LOL It was your state of mind when you said it. I'm glad to hear you're doing better. Sorry about the quote, LOL. It hit me what would happen if I put it up and I just couldn't help myself. LOL.

My favorite part of that chapter was when the dragon stared at Hunter and he was like "What?" so cluelessly. LOL! It's a long journey with a long way to go. It's only just beginning.

**Aroura528** - I'm glad you liked it. Don't worry, I try to update every Wednesday afternoon. LOL.

Glad you guys liked the chapter. Sorry if the quote scared anyone. LOL. Thank you all for reviewing.

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(Cliff, Hunter's POV)

Well the dragon led us alright. Right through the portal, to the forest leading to the highway out of Blue Bay. It was a long walk, and took a good portion of the day, but eventually, the area began to get more rocky and barren and less forested. Soon, the dragon landed on the ground and walked ahead of us, probably exhausted from flying the whole way there. It left the road and headed along the rocky landscape.

"Hey! Just where are we going?!" Shane demanded loudly as he carefully climbed over the rocks.

Stumbling a little, Tori blushed deeply as Blake reached out and grabbed her arm, steadying her and giving her a hand down from a lose, large boulder. Smiling at him, she hesitantly took her hand back and nodded. "Thanks."

Turning back to the dragon, I hid a grin at my brother's chivalrous nature when it came to her. It was so obvious they liked each other, I knew even Dustin had figured it out by now. Now, if only _they'd_ figure it out. "I dunno." I called a little, referring to Shane's earlier question. "I'm just following our guide here."

The dragon turned and shot me and look, and it came across as 'You-think-you-can-do-better?'. Raising an eyebrow back, I folded my arms over my chest and stood still, waiting for it to continue. After a moment it did so with an indignant huff.

"Yeah, ok, I kinda got that." Shane replied sarcastically. "I mean, I thought we were looking for a Haunted _Forest_."

That made me pause a moment and my eyes narrowed in confusion. "Hey, yeah, I thought so, too."

Again the dragon turned back, but this time it rolled it's eyes before gesturing with it's head for us to keep following it.

Still not moving, I debated on walking right up to the dragon and demanding what was going on, but the look on the girl's face, in my dreams, made me sigh in frustration. "Fine, but you owe me." I grumbled quietly.

Suddenly, there was a rumble, and a blast around us that sent us all flying. Distantly, I heard the others' startled cries as I felt my body flying through the air, and my mind immediately turned to Blake, praying for his safety.

Then I hit the ground and all the breath was knocked out of me. Laying still, I could hear the sounds of battle.

"Hunter!"

People were calling my name and I distinctly heard two voices I really could have done without right now. Taking a deep breath and feeling the ache through my entire body, I coughed harshly as my lungs stung and forced the air back out. Groaning, I slowly turned on my side and leaned up into a sitting position. Everything spun a moment but I blinked and shook my head before focusing.

"Hunter, bro! Are you ok?!"

Blake was at my side in a second, hovering over me like a mother hen. Grinning wryly at him, I nodded and rubbed my back a little as I stood up. Coughing again, I winced and glared at the reason I was in pain and currently, a very bad mood. "Yeah, bro, I'm fine." I muttered.

"Hey guys! Miss us?"

Narrowing my eyes, I followed Blake and walked to the others, briefly noticing that the dragon was no where to be seen. I felt my suspicion rising at that, and vowed I'd wring it's scrawny little neck when I found it, if it betrayed us, but for now…

"What are you two doing here?" Cam groaned in irritation, rubbing his temples as he glared at the two girls.

One with pink hair in an unusual, really weird, poofy hairstyle, with blue eyes and wearing a sneaky grin on her face, was Kapri. She held a sword out in front of her, that crackled with pink energy.

The other had giant, brown meatballs for her hairstyle and her grin was a lot more sincere. That was Marah. If Dustin was an airhead, well, she made him look like a genius. Her sword was still sheathed, making it obvious that it was Kapri who blasted us.

"Well I thought we'd just pay you a visit, dear cousin." Kapri stated, her eyes narrowed. "Didn't expect to find you all the way out here, though."

"Trust me, a visit from you is a visit I can live without." Cam groaned with a glare.

Smirking, she walked forward and Marah seemed to snap out of a daze as she jumped and followed her big sister. "Yeah, well, where's the dragon?!" she called, her friendly face gone and turned hostile.

_The dragon?_ I thought in confusion. _But I thought it was in on this._

Hearing a small squeak, I turned my head to find the said dragon hiding up in a single, nearby tree, glaring at me as though it could read my thoughts.

"Well?" Kapri demanded impatiently, bringing my attention back to the current battle. Obviously she hadn't seen me look away. "Uncle sent us to get it and we're gonna get it!"

"Or you're gonna get it alright." Shane stated with a glare of his own as he shared a look with the rest of us.

Understanding that look immediately, I nodded and moved into the line-up with the others.

Raising their morphers, Shane, Tori and Dustin called out, "Ninja Storm!"

Following their lead, Blake and I called, "Thunder Storm!"

Lastly, Cam followed us. "Samurai Storm!"

Together, we hit the buttons on our morphers and I felt the power surging through me as I changed.

"Ranger Form! Ha!"

Closing my eyes a moment, I felt as though raw thunder energy was running through me, and when I opened them again, we stood in the same spot, morphed into our Ranger selves.

Instantly, all aches and pains running through my body from the blast were gone and I felt rejuvenated. Running forward with Blake at my side, I took on Kapri as he took on Marah. The others were left with the Kelzacks they had called into the battle.

We took a few hits, but as usual, the battle didn't last long. But still, as Kapri and Marah retreated, Kapri shot us a look of victory, and I had a sneaking suspicion that despite our winning the battle, they'd managed to sneak something by us.

"Guys."

Turning to Cam, I watched the knowing look on his face and knew he'd seen their looks too.

With a frown, he demorphed and pulled off his glasses, glaring at the spot they'd been standing in not too long ago. "I don't like this. That was too easy, and I have a feeling there's more to this than meets the eye." Shaking his head, he sighed and put his glasses back on. "Cyber Cam will keep an eye out, but we'd better keep our guard up, just to be safe."

We all powered down and stood for a moment. I think we were all torn about what we needed to do. On one hand, we needed to make sure Lothor wasn't up to anything, as usual. But on the other, those dreams were leading us somewhere, and we were close to at least getting some answers.

Hearing a squeak, we all turned and I jumped as the little white dragon landed on my shoulder. "Hey!"

"So the dragon's still here." Tori deadpanned with a raised eyebrow. "I thought it took off."

"It hid." I grumbled with a pointed look.

The dragon glared back at me and looked down at itself as if to point out that in it's small form, it would only have gotten into our way.

"Well."

We all turned back to Cam who looked royally irritated. "What are we waiting for?"

The dragon hopped off my shoulder, and I spun, chasing after it as it took off over the rocky land. For a split second, I frowned to myself as everything seemed to fade away and I found myself chasing after that girl again, in the woods, but shaking my head, and stumbling when I threw myself off balance, I found myself back with the others, chasing down the dragon.

_Weird_. I thought in confusion.

Soon enough, we ended up at a forest again, but there didn't seem to be anything 'Haunted' about it. We raced through it, still chasing the dragon and in no time, I almost tripped over it when it came crashing to a stop at the edge of a cliff. Frowning, I took a couple of steps forward, feeling my heart plummet as a single rock fell over the edge, and looked over.

The drop was enough to make me take a quick step back as my heart started to pound. It was jagged cliffs running along both sides and then, what looked like a deep river at the bottom. Not one of those white water, fast running rivers, either, but a calm one that seemed bottomless, from what I could see. Then again, it was too high up to really tell.

"Nice view." I offered as I stood up straight, looking out over the other cliff and the woods beyond. "But what's this got to do with the 'Haunted Forest'?"

"Nothing." Came an all too familiar voice, along with a chorus of surprised gasps. "Yet."

Spinning in place, I took a single step back and felt my eyes widen as I stared at the girl of my dreams, literally. The exact girl I always chased after in my dreams was standing right in front of me, staring at me and me alone, from maybe a foot away. Quickly growing uncomfortable with how close she was, I took another step back.

Or rather…tried to.

Feeling the ground break way beneath my foot, I moved it forward as my heart nearly leapt out of my chest. Looking over my shoulder I felt my throat tighten up nervously as I noted I was on the very edge.

"The way is down there."

Turning back to the girl, I felt my eyes narrow. "What do you mean?" I demanded lowly. "And how'd you get here?!"

Smiling almost playfully, she winked. "I was here all along."

"Just who are you?!" I demanded harshly, glaring at her as I took a single step forward.

The amused glint in her eyes faded and she sighed heavily. "Despite what you seem to think, I'm an ally. My name is Kendra Morgan."

"You said the way was down there." Cam called from behind her. "What did you mean."

"I meant what I said. The way is down there." She replied cryptically. Turning to me she offered an apologetic look before lunging out faster than I could keep up with.

All I felt was a sudden hard, warm pressure on the center of my chest, pressing against the necklace I wore, and I felt myself falling backwards. I mentally screamed at myself to move, but I could only stare in shock as my body fell back, over the edge of the cliff.

I felt a pulse against my chest.

"HUNTER!!!"

The voice was Blake's and it was so close but sounded muddled, like it was coming from far away. I was caught staring into blue eyes that spoke volumes. Then everything seemed to click back into place.

I felt my eyes widen as I fell off the cliff, the girl stepping to the side before vanishing as I fell. Taking a deep breath, I instinctively yelled out of shock and fear, looking around for something to grab on to, but there was nothing.

Suddenly, I saw something out of the corner of my eye. Turning back to the cliff as I seemed to fall forever, my eyes widened and I swear my heart stopped pounding. Tears came to my eyes as I stared in muted horror as Blake jumped off the cliff after me, obviously, without a second thought. _No…_ My mind barely seemed to register the thought as he dove towards me with a look of desperation on his face.

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Not the best place to break off but I needed to break it into two chapters. There you go, first meeting with the mystery girl. Remember, I did say it wouldn't be Angie. LOL

Hope you like it.

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"Man, I don't think I've ever been so scared!"

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R R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	9. Chapter 9

Ok, this week is hectic for me and I'm really busy, but I'm also trying to make sure I get everything taken care of. It's Wednesday, so here's my next chapter.

**Pinklen98** - Oh I totally agree. I'd never want to make Hunter or Blake go through losing each other. I'd never kill either one off, unless I planned on an ending where they were both alive and well. That means, only alternate universes, dreams/visions, and such, I _may_ kill one off, but that's a very big MAY. LOL.

**GinaStar** - Oh I agree, but sometimes I kind of like them because you know it'll make thousands of scenarios run through the readers' minds and keep them looking for more. LOL. I love writing them but hate reading them, if that makes any sense. LOL Here's your update.

**JuseaPeterson** - Well of course, it's Hunter. LOL I didn't want to make it just jump to them being in the forest, so I tried to think up a bit of a transition. I think they are very dependant on each other. It's hard to explain, but if Hunter died, Blake wouldn't do so good, and same vice versa, so the only thoughts on their minds would be to protect each other, above all else. It's like how Hunter jumped off the cliff after Blake, with the new bike.

Yes I know you did, and it's alright. It makes me feel better that I did alright with their relationship and how it's progressing.

Well she's not out to kill him, if that's what you mean. LOL. No, it's Hunter. You know how stubborn he can be, and they didn't have the time to waste. I'm glad you like her so far.

**Aroura528** - LOL! I wasn't around last week to get to my story to update it. Well, I will guarantee you that I won't kill either one off. I love the Bradley brothers too much for that. Here's the next chapter.

**PinkAzn** - LOL Yeah, my computer was on the fritz around Christmas, but thanks to my family, I have an all new one that's really powerful and has like 3 times the space for all my stories, so I'm happy. I'm glad you like my fics. Thank you. :) I've always been a huge Hunter fan.

Well, with the ideas I have running around in my head, I guarantee you I won't stop writing for a veeerrryyyyy long time. LOL!

Well, I'm going to be bouncing around for POVs, as well as including POVs from a couple of not-main characters. LOL. I think I struggled a bit for their thoughts and reactions in this chapter, but I hope you like it. Like I said, my week has been hectic, but I'm still finding time to work on my story.

Thank you all for reading and reviewing. I'm glad you like this story. Ever since Windian Baby, I've felt more into my stories, making them easier to write, and I'm proud of these two recently.

Ok, enough rambling…. On with the FIC!

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(To the Haunted Forest, Hunter's POV, Cont'd)

Right behind him, the girl jumped off, followed by the others, Tori taking the lead. But they quickly escaped my mind as my eyes latched on to Blake's falling form again. I opened my mouth to yell at him, maybe scold him or maybe to say sorry for failing him. I didn't know. But before a single word could pass my lips, I felt my body hit something hard and cold and was shocked into a silent cry as I sank beneath the almost still waters. The air poured out of my lungs until I gathered enough strength to close my mouth and keep the rest in, and I blinked away blurriness as Blake, only seconds later, landed as well.

I sank deeply but managed to catch myself and swam upwards and to the side as the others landed. I saw Blake swimming up as well and almost let out a sigh of relief, until I realized it was the last of my air. Vowing to give him a tongue lashing of a lifetime later, I closed my eyes and broke the surface of the water, gulping in huge lungfulls of fresh air and feeling my heart pound painfully as I tried to regain my bearings.

Hearing coughing and voices, I spun in place, treading water to stay afloat. There behind me were the others, but again they quickly faded from my mind as my eyes landed on my baby brother, who was staring at me in terror, confusion, but mostly relief. Without even thinking about it, I swam forward and grabbed him into a tight hug, which I felt him return with no hesitation what so ever. "Bro, what in the world were you thinking?!" I demanded shakily, my whole body trembling with tension. I couldn't believe he'd done that! Jumped off a cliff after me!

Then my mind flashed back to when he was blasted off the edge of a cliff, and how I'd jumped after him. Frowning to myself, I hugged him tighter, relishing the fact that we were both alive and seemingly unhurt. _That was different._ I reminded myself. I'd had the new bike to help us. This time, neither of us had anything.

"Man, I don't think I've ever been so scared!" he stated shakily as he hugged me back.

Nodding, I opened my eyes, feeling my heart pounding. Staring at the girl, Kendra, I carefully pushed Blake to the side and swam over to her. "What was that for?!" I demanded loudly as I waved an arm wildly. "You could've killed me!"

Her eyes held guilt and sadness, but her face remained impassive. "I'm sorry, but we didn't have the time to discuss it. I knew you could handle the fall, and the water's deep enough not to worry about hitting the bottom easily."

"So you pushed me off a cliff?!"

Her head dipped a little. "Those dreams…"

My whole body stiffened up at the mention of them and immediately my anger receded a little, a _very_ little.

"I didn't show you everything, but we don't have time for details and long explanations!" she stated firmly, looking back up at me, a look of fear etched into her face. "The things you saw…"

My blood ran cold as images of Kelly's body decaying and Blake's long decayed body lying on the floor of Storm Chargers, flashed across my mind. The images of the thousands of bodies, and ruined city.

"They'll come to pass if we don't hurry." She finished pointedly, a knowing look shining in her eyes. "That and so much more."

"She's right." Cam put in with a frown. "If Kapri's reaction after the battle had anything to say about it, time is not on our side. We have to hurry."

Nodding a little, I took a deep, calming breath and nodded. "Fine, lead the way." I stated in a low voice, not ready to let it go, but forcing myself to deal with it later.

Tilting her head a little, she seemed to regard me for a moment before nodding a little and looking around. Following her lead, I saw that the river more or less started here. On one side of us was a massive waterfall, that had been hidden from the cliffs, before. It only just hit me that I'd heard the water running, but it didn't register until now.

On the other side, the river wound around a bend. In front of us and behind us, the massive cliffs stood and I felt my frown grow. There were no shores. No visible caves, no paths, nothing.

"I thought you said the path was down here." I stated lowly, narrowing my eyes at her.

Turning to me, she nodded. "It's below us." Pointing to the waterfall, she started off, swimming for it.

"Wait!" I called, swimming after her. "Below us??"

She ignored me and kept swimming and I hesitantly followed her, dropping back to stay by Blake's side. The others, I noticed, seemed alright and relieved to be in one piece, and I let out a silent sigh of relief.

"We have to swim through an underwater cave." Kendra called slightly as she slowed to a stop a little ways away from the waterfall. "You'll have to hold your breath for a while."

I turned and looked at the others. Seeing Tori's thoughtful look, I was torn between shaking my head, telling her not to even think of it, and nodding, encouraging her. I turned back to our guide and bit my lip. _Just what does she know? _"You said you were with us the whole time?" I asked out loud, recalling her words from earlier.

Turning her head, I caught sight of her eyes and my mind flashed to the blue eyes of the little white dragon.

_Wait…_

Looking around quickly, I took notice that the dragon was no where to be seen and hadn't been since Kendra made an appearance. Feeling my eyes narrow in confusion, I turned back and stared at her carefully, seeing a knowing and amused look shining in her eyes.

_It couldn't be._

"I was." She stated with a slight smile. Her eyes softened and she tilted her head a little.

Again my mind flashed back to the little white dragon and how it cocked it's head in Ops. Shaking my head, I sighed loudly and turned to the others.

_Nah._ I thought dismissively. That was just too weird a thought. My memory flashed back to the dreams. But… Those were just dreams, weren't they? I mean, a human girl with dragon wings? But then, dragons weren't supposed to exist, either, and one was definitely with us earlier. _Dude, I'm confusing myself._ I thought with a raised eyebrow as I scrubbed at one eye with the palm of my hand.

Hearing a giggle, I looked over my shoulder and watched as she turned back to the falls with a small laugh.

"Ok."

I spun back to the others in surprise, my mind torn from my thoughts, and watched as Tori made a bit of a face.

"Just how long would we have to hold our breath?" she asked carefully. It looked like she had decided to use her power if she had to, but didn't want to, if she didn't need to. "I mean, can you tell us anything about this underwater cave?"

"It's underwater." Kendra deadpanned as she turned back, her face set with slight amusement. "It's not that long, but it would take a lot of mental willpower to make it through."

Ignoring her sarcastic remark, I thought about what she said. It would strain Tori to do what I knew she was thinking of doing, but at the same time, it seemed like it would be our best bet. Still… "Someone should go first and check it out." I stated after a moment. "That way we can tell if we can handle it."

Cam seemed to get what I was saying and nodded briefly. "Ok, but who? Who can hold their breath the longest?"

Everyone immediately turned to Tori, our Water Ninja. If she went, she could use her powers to create an air bubble to keep with her, to use if needed. Kind of like a ninja air tank, without the tank.

Blinking for a moment, she sighed and shook her head. Swimming forward, she looked at us carefully, her eyes lasting on Blake longer, before she turned to Kendra. "Well, I guess it's just you and me." She stated reluctantly.

Nodding quietly, Kendra turned back to the waterfall. "Follow me." She instructed quietly before taking a deep breath and diving under.

Performing the hand signals, Tori called on her powers to create an air bubble and dove after her.

Frowning, I mentally wondered if letting Tori go alone, with this strange girl, was such a good idea. I glanced out of the corner of my eye and found Blake frowning in worry, as well, and I knew he was thinking the same thing as me.

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Hope you like it.

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"Whoa."

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R R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	10. Chapter 10

**GinaStar** - LOL, Yeah, it's funny. Poor Hunter, I love the clueless look in his eyes.

**Aroura528** - I can honestly say you're very well informed. I used to love to read, but now I'm addicted to the internet LOL, and writing. Well I love mythology, as well as the Egyptian and Japanese cultures.

**Pinklen98** - Well, he probably would have, but only one of them was to go, and I wanted to try and include the others a little more in the story. LOL. Merpeople? Hmmm, that idea never actually crossed my mind but it sounds like a cool story idea.

**JuseaPeterson** - Wow, I can't believe I almost forgot that. "I can't believe I'm gonna miss my race tomorrow." "Did you seriously just say that?!" LOL.

Well he can be quite smart when he wants to, but that broodiness is always there. Love the broodiness, for it is what makes Hunter, Hunter. LOL I love the glare he gets in his eyes, or that "Don't mess with me" Look and such. I think my favorite look is the innocent, boyish one he can get. Like in Good Will Hunter, when he's talking to Blake about Charlie, how his eyes seem so much more innocent and he's got that grin. Love it.

_Starting_ being the key word. LOL. There's a looonnngggg way to go yet with this story. This is only chapter 10, I have to chapter 16 written and I'm only at the point where they are about to meet the dragons. LOL

**Mrs.Quincy25** - Well, I've always noticed eyes first on people, so I guess it went to writing. I love trying to point out Hunter's eyes (Come on, you've got to love Hunter's eyes, along with everything else, of course, LOL).

**PinkAzn** - Hmmm, I never saw that episode. I lost interest in a lot of the series after Dino Thunder, so I started writing and my muse has been stuck on Ninja Storm. Maybe it's the Ninja thing? LOL. Well, I used to play a game called Breath of Fire, where it dealt with something called the Dragon Clan. It was basically people with wings who could turn into dragons, and the stronger your character got, the more types of dragons they could turn into.

It gave me the image for a baby dragon and from there, it just seemed to click. I love the baby dragons, I mean, think of how cats sleep and stretch, but then imagine a baby dragon instead of cat. And then in Windian Baby (my last story) for their playing scene, I used a mental image I had of my grandfather's lambs when they played. They jumped and twisted in the air and raced around.

I couldn't stop giggling in that scene, it was so cute! LOL

I'm glad you all like it. And I'm glad if any of the images I'm trying to portray are getting across. Here's the next chapter, a little early, but I was up early, so… LOL

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(Tori's POV)

Ok, I didn't know what to think of this girl. When she turned from the little white dragon, into the girl Hunter described from his dreams, I think we were all really torn. I knew for sure that everyone was wondering what she was. Then, when she pushed Hunter off the cliff, Blake jumped into action, jumping after him.

I felt like my heart shattered in terror as I watched him sail over the edge of the cliff. My throat dried and closed up, and I swallowed heavily, opening my mouth to call Blake's name, not wanting to believe my eyes. But all that came out was a whisper.

Next, the girl jumped, and I blinked in confusion before recalling what she said about the path being down below. Registering the sound of rushing water, I realized there was a river at the bottom and raced forward, jumping after them. Distantly, I heard the others calling our names, but I also knew they'd follow us.

Believe me, I don't think I'd ever felt so relieved to see Hunter and Blake alright.

Now I'm following her to an underwater cave. _Joy_. I thought sarcastically as I swam after her.

Luckily the water wasn't too cold and I was able to concentrate fairly well, keeping the air bubble next to me. We didn't swim too far when I felt the pressure of the waterfall start growing. I had to fight more to remain close to her, and the tension only grew as we swam closer to the cliff behind the waterfall. Soon enough, a cave came into view. It was a good size, so I had no worries of clothing getting caught on any rocks, or any of us getting stuck in narrow spaces, but as we entered the cave, all source of light faded, leaving us swimming in almost pitch black.

I felt one of my hands scrape painfully against a rock wall and narrowed my eyes, trying to see better. I could barely make out a figure moving ahead of me, as my lungs began to burn, and swam after it, letting out a little air to ease the tension.

We swam for a while, making the occasional turn or swimming upward or downward under a jutting rock. I don't know how long we were under, but before long, my eyes began to burn along with my chest. I opened my mouth to let out more air, only to realize I didn't have any. Quickly pulling my air bubble to the surface of the cave, to create an air pocket, I swam up and took a deep breath before diving back under and looking around for Kendra.

I saw her a little distance ahead and swam quickly after her, wondering just how much farther we had to go.

Again we swam further, and made more turns. At one point, the cave narrowed quite a bit, and I had to twist and turn to work my way through. Then I had to make another stop to get more air.

Not long after that narrow point, she started swimming up a wide shaft and I followed suit. I knew at this point that trained ninjas or not, we'd need help getting through this.

Soon, we broke the surface in a large cave. Gulping in large lungfulls of air, I looked around while wiping the water off my face. "Whoa." I stated in awe.

It was just a shallow cave, leading into a fairly dark forest beyond, but it was like nothing I'd ever seen before.

Swimming a little ways to my left, I gingerly raised my hand and ran it over a large, navy crystal that stood from the water. It felt warm to the touch and almost seemed to crackle with electrical energy, and I felt myself shiver from the sensation as I kept taking in the area.

There were crimson, navy and white crystals hanging from the ceiling, one the walls, next to the walls and sprouting from the ground, under the water. There weren't a lot of them, but they were there.

"There you have it."

Blinking in surprise, I tore my eyes from the glowing crystals and turned to Kendra.

She was looking at me with a completely serious look on her face. "I wouldn't go any farther alone. There are things…" Biting her lip, she turned to the forest. "You should go back and get the others."

Frowning to myself, I nodded a little and turned to leave. Silently gathering another air bubble, where she couldn't see it, I dove under the water and made my way back to the others.

Recalling the dark, gloomy forest, I shuddered as I entered the cave and made my way through the narrow squeeze.

_Well, it looks like we finally found the haunted forest._

(With the guys, Normal POV)

"Man, where is she?!" Blake demanded for like the fifth time in the last five minutes.

Tori had been gone for close to 15 minutes, and even thought they all knew she could take care of herself, they still worried about her. Especially Blake.

Swimming over to him, Hunter floated on his back to give his arms and legs a rest. "Bro, it's Tori." He stated simply.

Shane nodded from beside Dustin and Cam. "Yeah man, I mean, she can take care of herself." Rubbing his arm in sympathy with a memory that struck him, he made a face. "Trust me, I'm sure she's fine."

"It's been what, 15 minutes?" Cam asked carefully. "Kendra did say it would strain us to go through, but remember that Tori had that air bubble."

_Speaking of Kendra…_ Hunter thought with a frown. "Hey guys, where'd Kendra come from, anyways?" It was kind of obvious, he thought, but he didn't want to accept it.

Giving him a pointed look, Cam raised an eyebrow, while Shane blinked for a moment before shuddering and Dustin looked totally lost. Exchanging looks, Cam sighed, obviously being chosen to explain.

"Well, she came from the dragon." He stated bluntly. "Basically, she was the dragon the whole time."

_I was afraid of that._ Hunter thought. Feeling a warm pulse against his chest, he frowned and instinctively reached up to grab the necklace he always wore, clutching at it lightly and noting it was warm in his hands.

Blake seemed to notice his actions and frowned before copying his actions. Clutching at his own necklace, his frown grew and Hunter suspected he noticed the same thing.

Suddenly, there was a splashing behind them and they all spun to find Tori pop up from the water, gulping up fresh air with a slightly pale face. Wiping the water out of her face, she made a face and swam over.

"Ok, so she was right. The path is down there. It's a long, winding cave, and towards the other end, there's a narrow spot you're gonna have to squeeze through. We'll definitely have to use my powers."

With a sigh, Cam nodded before looking around in confusion. "Where's Kendra?"

Tori shrugged and pointed towards the cave. "She stayed behind."

"It might have been hard on her, too." Shane suggested thoughtfully. "I mean, to hold her breath that long."

Hunter wasn't so sure but remained silent as they worked out their plan. Tori would take two down at a time. It would strain her, but it seemed like the fastest way to go without overdoing it and everyone going at once.

They were deciding who would go with who when Hunter caught Blake's eye and saw the determined look on his face. Already, he knew what was coming and felt his chest tighten in worry but remained silent, understanding why.

"I'll go last." The Navy Thunder Ninja finally spoke up.

Everyone turned to him, but no one questioned why or protested. Like Hunter mentioned before, everyone probably already knew of their feelings for each other.

Giving him a slightly confused look, Tori blushed and bit her lip before turning back to the others and nodding. Closing her eyes, she created a large air bubble and Shane and Hunter swam forward to go first, leaving Cam and Dustin for the second trip and Blake for the final.

Now Hunter really wasn't a religious guy, but once again he found himself praying for everyone's safety before diving under with Shane.

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I struggled with the end of this chapter, but I hope it was ok. I was a bit confused how to do the forest and the cave. I figured, either have them go to the cave first and then the forest, or the forest and the cave, but I had to work out the details. LOL

Oh and if my character seems sarcastic, deadpanning, and smartass, it's because that's my sense of humor leaking into the story. LOL. Basically, if I were in her place and someone asked me those questions, those would be my answers. LOL!

Hope you liked it.

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"So, what can you tell us about the haunted forest?"

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R R please

Thank you

Tenshi


	11. Chapter 11

Ok, I'm posting this early because I'll be too busy the next couple of days to post, and I don't want to make it late. As for review replies, I will be leaving those until next week's chapter because I am too tired to do much of anything tonight. LOL Lazy spell? Well, after running around all day, sure, you can call it that. LOL. Hope you like this next chapter, and again, I'll reply to reviews next chapter.

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(Kendra's POV)

Clearing my throat, I closed my eyes as I walked along the cave to the entrance. With a wince, I stopped and looked down at my soaked dress, grabbing a handful of my skirt and twisting it as tightly as I could to wring out the water. It didn't help much, and dropping the skirt, I stood by the entrance to the cave.

It wasn't easy, staying under the water that long. I knew that Tori fell behind a few times. I could sense when her energy faded a little and looked over my shoulder. Those were the times I took quick breathers. It was difficult, yes, there was only the slightest space for oxygen in that tunnel.

Looking out over the dark forest looming just in front of me, I frowned, worried about the dragons back in the cave. Sure, they were spirits and couldn't be physically harmed, but every day they grew weaker. They needed to bond with their human halves, and soon. 

And the boys, they didn't even know what was coming. They didn't know the full dreams, they didn't know the trials they'd have to go through.

The Haunted Forest was just part of it. The beginning. They'd have to make it through, to the other side and the cavern where the dragon spirits dwelled, but that was the easy part. There were…things, that lived in the woods. I never really understood it, to be honest, but it was like they were there as testing. 

"I don't wanna go there." I muttered under my breath, closing my eyes and forcing back the memories of what I went through. It wasn't that bad, I guess, but I still didn't want to remember it.

Hearing splashing behind me, I turned and awkwardly made my way to the pool as three people surfaced.

_Wait…._ Frowning, I waited for the others to surface as well, but they didn't. _Only three? _

Hearing them talking for a while, I got pretty much who was who. Tori had brought Hunter and Shane. So where were Cam, Dustin and Blake? I was about to ask, but Hunter shot me a look as he and Shane swam towards me, and Tori took a deep breath before diving back under.

What's weird was that I could swear that every time she did that, I felt a rush of energy. It was hard to explain, but I got the distinct feeling there was something I didn't know. 

As Shane and Hunter both waded out of the water, they looked at me briefly, Hunter's eyes narrowed and full of mistrust, before looking past me to the forest. Their reactions were more or less what I expected.

Shane looked confused and a little annoyed. Maybe it was because he was expecting something else, I don't know. I watched silently though as he glanced briefly out of the corner of his eye, his look turning more concerned when he noticed Hunter's reaction.

Then again, _that_ I expected, too. As he took in the forest, his face became noticeably pale and drawn as his eyes widened a bit. I also noticed a barely hidden shiver as he quickly looked back to the pool, his eyes catching mine before he turned away. I knew he was remembering the dreams, that they were haunting him and I felt myself soften towards him, a little.

Silently we waited for the others to arrive, and not too long after, Tori brought Dustin and Cam. Once again I felt that energy rush before she dove back under and I knew that the last trip would be her and Blake.

"So, what can you tell us about the haunted forest?" Cam asked curiously as he eyed the dark woods just outside the cave entrance.

Facing the dark forest, my mind flashed to the…things, that lived there. Part of me was a little worried about bringing them here. What if they couldn't handle it? Grinning a little dryly to myself, knowing they couldn't see it, I recalled that _I_ had made it through. _If I could make it through, so can they._ Giving only a second of thought to his question, I rolled my eyes. _Always eager to learn, but not all of you are here yet._ "It's a forest, and it's haunted." I deadpanned pointedly.

"Enough of your smart-aleck attitude." Hunter warned lowly, and I could feel his glare against my back. "I'm not going any farther without answers."

"And do you plan to explain it again for your brother, when he gets here?" I questioned idly without turning around. My eyes caught sight of a grey clothed figure almost floating through the woods, in the distance, but I knew it was no threat. I also knew the others wouldn't have seen it, since my vision was enhanced by my dragon blood.

Hearing no more questions, I knew they caught on to what I was trying to point out. I would explain what I could, but not until they were all here. I didn't want to repeat myself.

Luckily, we didn't have too long to wait. I stayed away from the guys, feeling a little hurt at Hunter's lack of trust in me. Then again, I did push him off a cliff. Still, I gave them time to themselves and listened as they chatted.

"So we're here. Hunter, is there anything you can remember from your dreams?" Cam asked quietly, still on his quest for information.

I could feel his eyes boring into my back but the sensation faded and I heard a rustling. I wasn't facing them, but was fairly certain he was pacing.

"Not much." He replied lowly. "It was dark, there were…" He seemed to hesitate for a moment before seemingly shrugging and continuing. "Voices. I didn't recognize them and couldn't make out what they were saying."

For a moment I debated on either butting in at that moment, and more or less giving up the fact that I had been listening, with my own knowledge, or staying quiet and listening on. _Voices?_ I had a good idea what he was talking about. Probably some of the more…_friendlier_ things living in this place.

"Other than that…." He trailed off and I guessed he was finished.

"Ok, so generally, we have no clue what we're going to face." Shane muttered disapprovingly. 

All of a sudden, there was a splash and gasping sounds. Spinning in place, I watched as a rather pale Tori swam to the shore with Blake at her side. That was the last of them, once they were rested up we could continue.

And we'd have to hurry. 

Closing my eyes, I felt a dark energy nearing the forbidden crystal on a small island a ways away from Blue Bay. The crystal was forbidden because it housed a corrupted dragon clan spirit inside, and it was the very same crystal from my dreams. There were…._measures_ to protect it from the wrong hands, but if my visions were true, the dark force would get past them.

"We're all here now." Cam stated loudly.

Turning back to them, I noted the grim looks on all their faces, and how Blake's eyes widened briefly as he looked beyond me, to the forest.

"So, mind telling us what's going on?" Shane finished firmly as everyone sat down in a circle.

I knew they wouldn't go any further without _some_ sort of explanation, so with a sigh, I stood at the entrance to the cave, feeling unwanted in their group by the energy Hunter was giving off and the wary natures of all the others.

"We don't have much time, and it's a long story. I'll tell you what I can." I started as I let my eyes fall closed again.

Hope you liked it. I struggled for a bit with this scene because of writer's block. My own fault for being glued to facebook. LOL. Social chat, I'm a sucker for it. LOL

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"So, you _finally_ managed to do something right."

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R R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	12. A Peek at the 'Evil Force'

Again busy this week. I won't be home tomorrow, so I'm updating a day early.

**GinaStar** - I thought the crystals gave it a slightly more mystical look. I wanted to have her know about them being Ninjas, but then thought I was getting too close to the all informed Mary-Sue, so I said no. I'll make her figure it out over time.

**JuseaPeterson** Don't you mean when Kendra pushed him off? LOL Well he knew, but didn't want to admit it so easily, you know? And you know that since I had the chance….I HAD to have a little Blake/Tori. LOL Cam is Cam? LOL Yeah I figured both Hunter and Shane would be wary, Hunter more so. LOL I couldn't help the grin as I wrote it. LOL. Oh, the enemy? You'll find out more about them in this chapter. Not much just yet, but more. . The Haunted Forest will be a little…different for sure.

I'm STILL doing things I need to do so I could be updating early for a while. Luckily, I have 5 more chapters done, since the only writing I did recently was a little last night. O.O This would be exactly WHY I have so any chapters done but not posted. LOL. And SCA? Well I'm slowly moving off that because a lot of my friends aren't there anymore.

Now I'm addicted to Texas Holdem Poker. LOL It's a lot of fun, I can see why Adam was on it so much recently.

**Pinklen98** - Hm, funny. That comment about Blake and Tori in the bubble reminded me of a Final Fantasy scene. (See Of Rangers and Guardians, the Macalania scene) LOL Hm, well she pushed Hunter off a cliff, but otherwise… :S Facebook has already taken that part and is going back for seconds. LOL.

**Aroura528** - Hm that won't be for a few chapters yet. LOL. Actually, I am working on chapter 18 now, I think, and they are JUST meeting the dragons. LOL Well here's the next chapter and it should be a little more exciting, I'm hoping. Not much, mind you, but a little.

**PinkAzn** - Well the game was an old one originally for the Nintendo System, but also made for computers. It's pretty not well known, actually. Yeah I watched it too because of Tommy. I mean, after so many years I thought he was too old to play the part of a Power Ranger, but apparently I was wrong. I liked the season for sure though. Still NS is totally my favorite, which is why I'm still stuck on writing for them with ideas crawling around in the back of my mind. Well I'm trying for different POVs, really. Not of Shane or Dustin or Cam, because they aren't the main characters of this fiction, but Hunter, Blake, Tori, Kendra… Their POVs. Plus, the occasional POV from another back character, LOL, like they do in the show.

Yeah some of my chapters are shorter, sorry. LOL. It's because I'm breaking them off at scene changes to run more smoothly. Well, take out the notes, this one might be the same length? LOL Not as action filled, no, I began struggling at this point so kept the action down until I figured out my next move.

Ok, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. I almost forgot to post it and I've got to be gone in an hour, LOL. Thank you all for sticking with me and reading and reviewing. Your comments help keep me going on this story.

(In another Area, Normal POV)

"So, you _finally_ managed to do something right." Sneered a man clothed in black, with a black mask over his face and long black hair. "This is surprising." Looking at the island on his viewing screen, his eyes sparkled with unbridled lust of power, and he climbed down from his dark throne to stalk forward slowly. "Finally, I've found it."

Closing his eyes, he heard what sounded like a faint, almost indistinguishable voice in his mind, telling him to go to the island, and felt a powerful tugging. Adrenaline rushed through his veins as he opened his eyes and his body tingled with the faint touches of the power that awaited them. _With this power, I will be unmatched._ He thought with a silent chuckle.

"Um, Uncle?" came a hesitant, female voice, snapping the man out of his thoughts.

Spinning in place, he leveled a lethal glare at her for interrupting him. "What?!" he demanded harshly.

Wincing in uncertainty, the pink haired girl exchanged a glance with a brunette girl. "Well, um… You see, the thing is…"

At this point, a large, fish-like monster covered in silver metal armor, stepped forward. "Forgive us, but it seems we have a problem." He stated confidently. Turning to the screen, he nodded sharply to a chubby, almost nerdy looking monster who jumped at his look. "Choobo, the video!"

Jumping again, Choobo nodding and rushed over to the console, inserting a disk into a slot and pressing a few buttons. As everyone turned to watch the video, the shark-like minion glares hatefully at the man in black's back and snorted silently to himself.

**Video**

The viewing screen turned fuzzy for a moment before the shore of the island was shown. A small group of kelzacks had been sent down to investigate the island and wandered around the beach, looking around as if looking for something.

"Stop fooling around!" a voice commanded as a large, green and red monster stepped into the view of the screen. He had sword in both hands and pointed one at a kelzack. "You!" Pointing to the forest line, he gestured for the kelzack to head over. "Take three others and head into the woods!" Turning to another small portion of the group, he nodded towards some rocky cliffs. "You, check over there!"

"Bossy, as usual, huh Zurgane?" sneered the pink haired girl, in the video.

Turning to the said girl, Zurgane glared at her. "At least I know how to get the job done." He stated cockily.

"Sure, that's why you haven't beaten the Rangers yet, right?" She spat back.

"Uh, guys?"

"What?!' they both demanded, turning to the brunette girl.

Making a face, she raised an uncertain eyebrow and looked past them, pointing shakily to something. "Is that supposed to happen?"

Frowning, the pink haired girl turned and her eyes widened as she saw two of the kelzacks get hit by, what looked like gusts of wind, and they were sent flying into the ocean. "Uh…" Taking a step back, she turned to Zurgane and gave him a sneaky grin. "You know, this is your perfect chance to make good with Uncle." She said easily as she back to the other girl's side. Nudging her, she gave her a stern look. "Right, Marah?"

"Ow! Kapri!" Marah whined, rubbing her side. Giving Kapri a look, her eyes immediately widened. "Oh, OH! Right!" Turning back to Zurgane she nodded with a smile. "Good luck!" she called as they were teleported away.

Spinning around to see what scared the girls off, he watched in shock as another kelzack was hit by what appeared to be a blur. "What the…?" He demanded quietly.

**Unknown Place**

"What is this?!" the man in black bellowed angrily as he watched several of the kelzacks get picked off by their invisible opponents. As he watched, the gusts eventually stopped, leaving behind Zurgane and the camera carrier alone. Turning his head, the man's eyes narrowed, somehow knowing there was more bad news to come.

_Can't these morons do anything right?!_ He thought angrily as he watched Zurgane stalk warily towards the woods.

**Video**

Heading through the tree line, he became immediately aware that the woods were too quiet. The occasional crow cawed and there was a slight rustle in the bushes, but otherwise, it was silent. Not even any wind blew, leaving the air stinking of staleness and decay.

The trees were clearly dying, and bones littered the ground.

Walking carefully over some sort of animal carcass, Zurgane looked around warily. "Wait!" He stopped cold, causing the camera to almost crash into him. "Something isn't right here."

Suddenly, there was a loud rustles and what sounded like an inhuman moan. The wind picked up, but instead of freshening the air, it carried a stronger stink of rot with it. The camera began to go fuzzy, and spun as the image began to fade.

The last thing visible was the blurry outline of some sort of deformed monster.

**End Video**

"Well?! No one ever answered me!" he demanded, spinning in place to glare at everyone in the room. Growling quietly, he quickly raised one arm and fired a black blast of energy at a passing kelzack, frying it on the spot.

Marah and Kapri jumped at the blast and ducked in order to avoid it, and Zurgane stepped back in fear.

"Vexacus!" the man demanded in a snarl, looking to the metal clad creature before him. "What is all this?"

Bowing hastily, Vexacus nodded and turned his head to two kelzacks standing by the door, giving them a silent signal. "My lord, we managed to bring one of those creatures back with us." He stated calmly, turning back. "I think they may be defenses set up to keep us away from the crystal."

"Defenses." He growled lowly. "Are they the only defenses?"

Looking to the others, Vexacus seemed a little uncertain for once, but quickly hid it with a shake of his head as the two kelzacks brought in the body of one of the white, deformed monsters. "I'm afraid not, Lord Lothor."

Turning back to the screen, Lothor's eyes narrowed at it and his face drew grim. _No matter the defenses. I must have that crystal!_

Hope you like it. Sorry, I've been so busy and addicted to chat lately that I've had to force myself to turn to my writing. LOL. My muse has faded for this story, because of how long I've been letting it sit, but I have so many other ideas, it's going as I write it.

Dude, I've been hanging around you _way_ too much!"

R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	13. Chapter 13

Ok I almost forgot I had to update today. I won't be replying to reviews in this chapter because I am in a hurry. There is a comment I want to reply to, though.

LOL. I agree that the chapters with Hunter in them are much more enjoyable to me. But I do want to try and have the POV of others, so I will be switching back and forth. As for Hunter…Here's a chapter with him. LOL

Ok, I'm about to head off to a root canal….yay? So, Again, I'll reply to the reviews in my next chapter. Thank you all for sticking with this.

(In the Cave, Hunter's POV)

"Yeah right!" I declared in disbelief. Staring at Kendra, I just couldn't bring myself to believe her words. "So, basically, we have dragon…." Shaking my head, I searched for the right word. "Halves, to us… Right?"

She nodded grimly, that same dark look in her eyes that I recalled from the dream. Still she remained silent, staring at me expectantly.

She wasn't the only one.

Looking around the circle, I noticed everyone was looking at me, mixed expressions on all their faces. But one expression they all shared with me, was doubt. Turning my gaze back to Kendra, I raised an eyebrow. "So we have dragon blood in our veins and need to bonds with these dragon spirits before some…" Now my other eyebrow rose and I stared at her incredulously, although a small part of me believed her at this point. "Evil force is looking for a dark power capable of destroying the world."

Blinking at the words I chose, I quickly looked at Cam and narrowed my eyes. "Dude, I've been hanging around you _way_ too much!"

Tori grinned and Blake, Dustin and Shane chuckled. Cam simply glared at me for the comment. "That, if anything, would be beneficial to you." He deadpanned, making Blake grin even more, and Kendra's lips twitched in a barely concealed smile. "But we can discuss that later, now really isn't the time."

_Right, back on topic._ I thought as I turned back to Kendra, who was standing by the entrance to the cave. "Yeah, my point is if we have dragon blood, how come I remember having clearly human parents?"

Now it was her turn to raise an eyebrow. "I stated Dragon _Clan_." She said pointedly. "Humans with the ability to turn into dragons because of the dragon blood in their veins. You remember having human parents, right?"

I nodded silently.

Folding her arms over her chest, she sighed. "So tell me, what do you remember of your birth parents?"

I opened my mouth to tell her when it hit me, I didn't know anything. Faint, blurry images of a man and woman crossed my mind, and I clearly remembered the necklace the woman put around my neck. Instinctively, my hand reached for it and clenched it as I fought to remember more, but it was in vain, as the blurry images faded.

Now her tone softened. "You don't remember, do you?" With another sigh, she let her head drop as she stared at the ground. "Just answer me this. What could I possibly gain from lying to you?"

I closed my mouth again, staring at the ground with a frown as I begrudgingly admitted that there was nothing she could really gain. "Fine. Whatever." I mumbled, wanting to just drop it. I was still clenching my necklace and as soon as I realized that, I quickly dropped it and stood rigidly with my friends. Faintly, I noticed that they all had looks of concern on their faces, even Blake, although his look of confusion mirrored mine, making me think that he probably didn't remember his birth parents either.

Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and held it as I counted backwards from ten. When I opened them again, I saw everyone was looking around the cave, and they seemed to be waiting. "So what now?" I finally asked, raising my eyes to stare at Kendra. "We go through the forest and find the dragons?"

Her look turned troubled and I felt suspicion rise in me. Narrowing my eyes, I glared at her, resisting the urge to grab her arms and yell at her. "What are you hiding?" I asked lowly.

"There'll be tests." She stated vaguely. "After you bond, to help you adjust." Looking away, she stepped out of the entrance of the woods, and her figure seemed to grow darker. It took me a moment to realize it was because the cave was lighter than the woods themselves.

Suddenly, she spun in place, and a forced grin appeared on her face. "So, you think you can keep up?" she asked teasingly before turning and taking off.

_Oh, man! Not again!_ I thought with a groan as I took off after her, hearing the others behind me. "Hey! Wait up!"

(Storm Chargers, Normal POV)

"I understand." A young woman with long red hair, blue eyes and a nametag that read 'Kelly Holloway' on it, stated in a calm voice, although her face seemed strained. Taking a book from a young man, she flipped through it before going back to something he had pointed out earlier. "You're looking for this model, right?"

The young man leaned forward with a bit of a frown and looked at the image before nodding silently.

"Well it's not in until next week." She insisted, pointing to a date under the article. "See?"

His frown deepened and his eyes narrowed as he read it before they closed and he sighed. "Alright, thanks." He said with a bit of a smile. "Sorry about the mix up."

Nodding with a tight smile, Kelly handed him the booklet and waved as he headed out of the store. Looking around at all the customers, she closed her eyes and massaged her temples as she headed over to a young woman at the rollerblading section. _Dustin, you'd better get back here._ She thought darkly, not at all impressed by his lack of showing up. "Then again, Hunter and Blake both skipped out with him." She grumbled as she approached the girl and pasted a smile on her face. _Why do I put up with them?_

"Hi. Welcome to Storm Chargers, can I help you with anything?" she asked.

The girl spun to Kelly with startled green eyes, that almost seemed to glow, but blinking a moment, Kelly noticed they seemed normal. _Great, now I'm seeing things._ She thought in irritation, trying to control her temper as she watched an older man walk in with a kid who ran straight to the motorbikes and began playing around. Taking a deep breath, she looked back to the girl and noticed she seemed about the same age with short red hair.

"I'm alright." The girl stated quietly as she looked back at the hiking gear in front of her. "Just browsing."

"Ok." Kelly stated agreeably with a nod, her gaze once again turning to the child as he began to play with the switches on the bike. Jumping in worry, she ran over and quickly grabbed the kid's hand before it could hit the ignition, barely concealing a growl when she realized Dustin had left the keys in it when he brought the bike in earlier. "Don't touch that!" she stated firmly as she swiftly removed the keys and let the kid's hand go again.

"Sorry about that, miss." The elder man stated as he quickly walked over, grabbing the child's hand. "Sky, you know not to play with things." He scolded lightly.

The kid seemed about 3 or 4, and his lip began to tremble as he looked at the older man. He had dirty blonde hair that bordered on being sandy in color, and light blue eyes.

"He's always getting into things." The stranger continued with a smile. "I was checking the place out. I think my wife would like it here." He stated with a smile.

Nodding to him, she smiled as he nodded and walked out of the store with the boy.

"Excuse me."

Jumping in startlement, Kelly spun to find the red headed girl from earlier, standing behind her. "Um, yes?"

"Sorry." The strange girl stated with a bit of a grin. Holding up some hiking ropes, she shrugged. "I was just wondering if I could buy these?"

Nodding with a forced smile, Kelly once again found herself mentally cursing the guys for taking off on her, as she led the girl over to the cash and rung in the ropes.

_This is so not my day!_

--

I'm sure you'll notice that some chapters are shorter or longer than others. It's because I am changing at POV/Scene changes, to help it move along more smoothly than if I just cut it off during a scene.

I've noticed it's still kinda boring, but I'm hoping to bring the action up a bit in the next chapters.

Oh, and I know Kelly's not really important in the story… Well, _this_ story, but like in the show, I just wanted to try something different. LOL. And the red head was designed after an OC a reviewer of Windian Baby sent me. I'm still deciding on whether or not to really include her.

Did the kid sound familiar at all? LOL Don't ask me why I mentioned him, I just kind of felt like it while writing this chapter.

--

"Where are Blake and Hunter?"

--

Please R+R

Thank you.

Tenshi.


	14. Chapter 14

Ok I've noticed the divider thing doesn't seem to be working. I like to separate the note from the actual story, so it's a little irritating to me. O.o Well, I'll try a few things to find a different one I like. LOL.

Sorry about the lack of review replies. I'm having trouble keeping myself working on my story. By no means does that mean I am giving it up, but I am working on it less than I was. I'm having trouble with ideas on how to have Hunter and Blake bond to their dragon halves. I mean, I have them bonding, but after, what sort of things they go through and what sort of 'tests' in the area, I have no idea what to do. O.o

**Update!** (This note is written two weeks after the original LOL!!)

Brief notice, I'm splitting the Rangers up at this point, so I'll be changing POVs between one group and the other.

And YAYYYYYYYYYYY! I'm on a writing roll! In the last two days, I've gotten over 3 chapters written, including them bonding with the dragons. I also included a little something quite possibly unexpected, but I'm not going to say what. It's a surprise ;)

**GinaStar** - Glad you liked it. LOL Yep, Sky Tate from SPD. LOL

**Aroura528 - **I don't think I've ever seen that movie/read that book, and if I don't know it well, I can't include it, but thank you. Hm as for mythology, I do have vampire story ideas, but they are separate from my dragon ideas. And it's spelled minotaur. LOL. But that last one, the minotaur, that might be an idea for a monster, I'm not sure yet. I don't like to plan with my stories, because I rarely follow the plan. I usually just write whatever I can see in my mind at the time and whatever works, I write it. As for communication, I'm going to stick to telepathy between Hunter and Blake, and squeaks/grunts/groans/growls when they're trying to actually talk to others. LOL

But thank you for the ideas, they're definitely good ones.

Glad you got Sky. LOL

**JuseaPeterson** - Which quote (from the chapter 13 preview, I think), and what makes you think it's Hunter? LOL Oh social chat, I'm not interested in it anymore. Imagine that, huh? I got so busy on the farm, I couldn't write on my stories, keep my workouts up, make all of my appointments, and chat online. In the end, I stopped writing for a week or two, and stopped talking online in general. Now I have time off, so I'm catching up on my story, :D

Hahaha… Yeah, I always noticed when they switched back and forth on tv. LOL So I wanted to do something similar. A little Flash of Lothor here, a little bit of Kelly there… I have the Rangers… Well, you'll see in this chapter, and so I'll be switching POVs even more often.

SO NOTICE TO ALL READERS (before I forget)… Hunter fans, not every chapter will have him in it. Blake fans, same thing. Fans of the others, same thing. LOL!! If I get into the habit of it, I'll put at the top of the chapter, who it'll mostly be about. LOL

This is an "Other Rangers-centric' chapter. LOL

BACK TO REVIEW REPLIES (lol)

**JuseaPeterson (cond't)** - Well I am trying to get into their heads more, and show their thoughts on things, so if it works, I'm glad. There's a part coming up (chapters 19 and 20) that you might really like. The surprise (see above for where I mentioned it before) LOL. The tests? You wonder? Hm…So do I, LOL!! Well, I'm thinking about it, and have an idea so far.

I know that SPD is set some time in the future, but for the sake of it, I wanted to do something a little different, so I brought in a man and kid, and as I went, Sky seemed like a great idea. Such a rule follower in the future, but why not make him a regular kid?

I'm still thinking more on the red-head. I'd definitely like someone different to pair Cam up with, but I'm having problems keeping my own idea straight as it is, so I don't want to make it even more confusing. We'll see as we go.

All went great with the dentist, thanks :) I'm glad you like the different POVs, they are neat to write and help me keep the flow going/make the story longer. LOL

**Pinklen98** - When I start a story, the last thing I intend to do is leave it or let it go. Sorry, if I gave that impression. I just meant I was getting low on ideas/muse, and that I might be slower on writing more chapters, but I'm not letting it go. It irritates me to get into a story and have the author just stop and drop it, so I never want to do that to my readers. LOL. It's ok though, my ideas are building back up, so it all works.

The little boy? Well if you watched SPD, the name gave it away. Sky. Sky Tate from SPD. LOL. Kendra? Hunter's dragon? Well it is a Hunter/OC pairing, but I never thought of that. No, no, she's her own person/dragon. LOL Bonding with the dragons is still a little ways off, sorry.

Thank you, glad you like it. :)

**PinkAzn** - Well, since this one review was posted for chapter 12 (I think), I forget who chapter 13 was about, but hopefully, it was Hunter related. I'll warn you now, this one isn't. Since Tori is considered (to me) one of the main characters, even if she's with the others, I'll want to include her POV. Don't worry though, definitely more Hunter to come.

Charlie? Wow, why didn't I think of that? No, wait, he doesn't have a dad. But still, why didn't I think of that? LOL. No, it was Sky from SPD. LOL Aww thank you. I'm glad you like my stories. I love writing them, but it's really great to hear that others like them too.

Now, can you imagine if I had the money to make a dragon clan movie staring Hunter? O.o

Hey, I totally agree with you! LOL!! Hunter IS totally hot! Now, more shirtless Hunter, and I'm happy.

(Thinks about asking Adam if he really had trouble getting his shirt off in the Shane's Karma episodes, or if it was part of the show… Then chickens out of it.) Damn, that boy's just TOO hot! But now I really want to knoooowwwwww! (Wines) LOL

I was thinking ally, if I include her. Well, Storm Chargers equals Extreme Sports stuff, so since motox, skateboarding and surfing are taken, I chose the next thing to cross my mind, courtesy of The Descent… Cave Diving/Spalunking/Rock Climbing. LOL

OMG THAT WAS A LONG NOTE! (jaw drops) LOL!!

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(Haunted Forest, Tori's POV)

Running through the woods after Kendra, I was reminded of the laps we sometimes had to do around the academy. The only difference was this place was _way_ creepier!

The forest was so dark, I'd swear it was night, but one look up at the dark, threatening clouds and I knew it was definitely still day time. It looked like a storm was ready to hit, but there was no wind, thunder or rain. I didn't know what to make of it.

Then there was the constant sounds of movement from all around us, and I'd swear that I could occasionally catch the sound of voices, or a glimpse of a figure moving in the dark.

"Hey!"

Spinning to look forward, I quickly ducked under a low hanging branch and continued my chase after the others. Kendra had taken off again, and almost instinctively, Hunter was on her tail. Then Cam and Dustin were behind him, Dustin a little behind Cam, and lastly Blake and me, with Shane taking up the rear. Blake was a little ahead of me, but I didn't miss it when his hand clutched at his chest.

For a moment, I felt panic sweep through me. What if he was in pain?

Looking to the others, I watched as Hunter did the same thing and felt my eyes narrow as I watched them both. Neither of them seemed worried or in pain at all, and I felt my panic fade at that, but I was still worried sick. Why were they clutching at their chests as they ran?

_Wait.._ My eyes narrowed and I looked closer, realizing they weren't clutching at their _chests_, they were clutching at a handful of their shirts. Or more precisely, probably the necklaces under their shirts.

Was this place having some sort of affect on them that we didn't know about?

Glancing ahead to our runaway guide, I watched as she leapt over a fallen tree log, and blinked in confusion as Hunter stumbled a second after, seemingly lost in thought. His face was pale, but a look of determination crossed it and he kept going.

Speeding up my steps a bit, I slowly became aware that I was getting tired. Just how long had we been chasing after her, and why was she running in the first place? Pushing those thoughts aside, I tripped a little over a stone and stumbled sideways, into Blake, blushing as he reached out to steady me and smiled.

_Why is it, whenever he smiles, everything else seems to fade away?_ I thought distantly as I focused on the chase again.

"You ok?"

Turning to Blake, I bit my lip and nodded with my own smile. "Yeah, just tripped." I admitted as we rounded another set of trees and kept going. "Why's she running?" I finally asked, the question rounding on my mind again and again. It just somehow didn't seem right.

Frowning at the question, Blake's eyes darted forward briefly, but I followed the glance and saw that he was looking at Hunter. Then his eyes turned back to me and he shrugged, looking definitely uncomfortable. "I dunno. She did the same thing in the dreams." He stated as he dodged around a tree and quickly climbed through some boulders.

He sounded fairly calm, but I knew that look of worry in his eyes. My eyes trained on the others, but I reached out and took his hand as we ran, holding it briefly and giving it a reassuring squeeze before letting it go again. "It'll be ok." I stated, my voice so quiet, I almost wasn't sure he heard me.

He remained silent a moment as his eyes filled with worry and determination, trained on his big brother. His lips moved, and I could swear he'd just said 'I hope so', but the words were lost on the wind as we raced on.

Beginning to pant, I frowned to myself. _How much farther is it? I don't know how much longer I can last._ I thought as I pushed myself to keep going.

I don't know how long it was, but I noticed the others showing signs of being tired, too. Dustin began to slow down and in seemingly no time, was running beside me, stumbling every now and then as he panted heavily.

My own chest felt tight as I struggled to breathe. Soon enough, I fell back as well. Blake took the lead, and if I hadn't known better, passed Cam. Now both brothers were in the lead, and we must've been slowing down, because I soon noticed them getting further and further away.

Suddenly, I felt something hit me from the side and knock me off my feet. Panic quickly swept through me as I felt something cover my mouth. I still couldn't breathe, but was struggling with the arms that wrapped around me. Feeling my instincts kick in, I elbowed who, or whatever had been holding me, and felt it's grip slacken. Pulling away sharply, I rolled a few times and sprung to my feet, almost immediately collapsing to my knees as my chest heaved for air.

My lungs burned and there were little spots floating in my vision as I squinted and looked around. Other than a quick flash of grey disappearing into the almost black depths of the woods, I saw nothing.

"Tori!"

Spinning around as my vision cleared and the ache in my chest faded, I saw Dustin, Shane and Cam all running up to me. "Guys!" I called back, feeling relief wash over me.

Relief that was short lived.

"Wait." Looking around carefully, I noticed something mission. Or rather, two some things missing. "Where are Blake and Hunter?"

The others stopped and looked around a moment before Cam's eyes closed and a rather stressed expression crossed his face. It looked like he was torn between being irritated and worried. "They must've kept going."

_Blake didn't notice when I was knocked down?_ I thought briefly, feeling a quick flash of hurt run through me. Almost as soon as it had come, it was gone though as I felt my worry for them taking over again. "So they kept chasing after Kendra?" _That's weird. They weren't that far ahead of us, I know they would've heard something._ Shaking my head, I rubbed at my temples as I became aware of a headache forming. "What happened, anyways? All I know is something jumped at me and knocked me down."

Looking around, Shane nodded. "I saw that, too. But I was too far back to see it clearly." He admitted as he scratched at his head.

Cam nodded thoughtfully as he looked in the direction it had faded. "Well, I'm not certain, but I'd swear it looked reptilian, but it was wearing tattered clothing." He actually sounded pretty lost about it. "From what Kendra said, Dragon Clan were human, with the ability to turn into dragons. These….seemed nothing like what she described."

"Great." I stated dryly. "So we don't know what we're dealing with and Blake and Hunter are gone. What now?" I looked back the way we'd come, but everything was so dark, I couldn't tell what path we'd taken. "Uh, how are we supposed to find our way back?"

The others spun around and looked into the woods silently. Obviously, they didn't know, either.

"Alright." Turning back to us, Cam nodded in determination. "We're all trained ninjas here, trained to use what's around us to survive." Looking up, He frowned at the sky before his eyes seemed to land on the trees. "Shane, do you think you can use your wind powers to get to the top of the trees, and tell us which way the cave is?"

"If he did that, maybe he could see Blake." I put in. When they looked at me silently a moment, I felt my face heat up, realizing I'd only mentioned _Blake_. "Um, and Hunter." I quickly amended. "I mean, they're off alone, shouldn't we be with them? Who knows what could happen?"

Lowering his face to the ground, Cam raised it after a moment, but remained silent. His eyes were unfocused as he seemed to be thinking.

Raising his hand slowly, Dustin finally said something. "Dude, like… What if Shane just looked around? He could like tell us if there's any other caves nearby or towns or anything, right?"

Looking a little uneasy, Shane nodded, his face turned towards the sky. "That could work. Just look around in general. If I can find the guys, it'll be a bonus, but if not, I can at least see if I can find out where they're going." Then he frowned as his eyes seemed to close half way. "But I dunno about this. The air feels….different here. Charged with something I don't recognize. I'm not too sure how well I can control it."

Now Cam's eyes narrowed a little. "Charged?"

"Dude, like, I feel it too. The ground feels like it's…." He shrugged and looked lost. "Uh, humming? You know, like when you have music so loud in the next apartment and everything is vibrating from it, or something?"

"Despite the analogy…" Cam stated with a raised eyebrow. "That information could be useful. Hmm…" Looking to the sky, his gaze changed to the path I was sure he thought we'd taken back, and then to the forest around us. "I don't think we have a choice. If we wander around, we risk getting lost."

Now I raised an eyebrow. "You mean worse than we already are?" I pointed out dryly.

He glared at me a little before closing his eyes and sighing with a nod. "Yeah, worse than we are now."

With a curt nod, Shane took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Making several swift hand movements, he slowly began to rise in the air, but almost immediately his focus seemed to wobble and his body shook like a rag doll as currents of what looked like electricity ran up his body. His face creased in concentration and slowly he rose higher in the air until he was just above tree line.

Opening his eyes, he seemed to look around for a while, occasionally wincing in pain or his body shuddering, but he remained fairly still as he rotated in place to look all around them.

"Ok, I see the cave we came from, back that way." He stated, pointing behind us. "And there's a cave that way." He added, pointing to our northwest. "It's surrounded by a small lake, with a narrow passage leading to the entrance."

Shaking his head a little, his face lowered a bit and he squinted. "I don't see Hunter or Blake. I can't make out much, really. It's just too dark." He winced again and closed his eyes as he slowly lowered himself to the ground, and collapsed to his knees panting. "Man, that was harder than I thought! It was like I was being electrocuted, and the more I fought it, the worse it got!"

Frowning to myself, I looked in the direction he'd pointed. Turning back to the others, I got a good look at Shane and knew he wouldn't be in any shape to go anywhere for a bit. Feeling my hands curl into fists, I closed my eyes and sat down on a nearby boulder with my friends, thinking about the thing that attacked me.

_I was weak and my guard was down. If it meant to hurt me…_

"Guys, that thing that attacked me…" Quickly going over everything I knew, I frowned deeply. "I don't think it was a threat. I mean, it could have really hurt me, but it didn't, right?"

"Yeah, it just knocked you down and took off." Shane stated with his own thoughtful frown. "What's up with that?"

"Well, what if it wasn't meant to hurt me?" Seeing their looks, I sighed and looked briefly in the direction I knew Hunter and Blake would be in. "What if it was just meant to stop us from following the others?"

Dustin frowned and scratched his head in confusion. "Dude, like, what would it gain from that?" he asked cluelessly.

"Hunter and Blake have to bond to the dragon halves, right?" I asked pointedly, looking at Cam, Shane and Dustin. "But no one ever said anything about us. So maybe we're not…" Biting my lips, I took a deep breath. "Maybe it was meant to separate us."

"But why?" Dustin asked again.

Frowning to myself, I admitted that I didn't know. But I didn't like it. Looking again in the direction they'd gone, I tried to tell myself that they'd be alright. After all. They're trained Ninjas, and Power Rangers.

_They'll be alright. _He'll_ be alright._ I mentally chanted, trying to convince myself. _They have to be._

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Hope you liked it.

--

"Dude, you're starting to pick up some bad habits from Cam."

--

R+R Please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	15. Chapter 15

Starts with Blake's POV, then Kendra's.

**GinaStar** - LOL, well I don't even know what I have up my sleeve next, so…

**Pinklen98** - LOL, Well this is from someone else's point of view. Hm, I never thought to separate Tori and Blake from the others, but yeah, they have their dragon spirits to bond with.

**Black Rouge** - Hunter? A favorite character? You and me both. LOL. I'm glad you like the idea so far. :)

**JuseaPeterson** - I never said I didn't go on at all, just that I'm not on as often. LOL. (watches as Blake helps her up) Well, things finally slowed down a little so I'm feeling better now. I'm glad you like it, good, I'm glad you felt like you were there. That's what I was going for. I didn't even think of separating them until it came up, so it was last minute. LOL

That's the guys for you. Well, it's a classic tale of good versus evil. LOL. Well, here's the next chapter, and this week is a good one because I wrote so much last week, I have TWO chapters to update today! :)

**Aroura528** - Thanks for the idea, I did that and got a bit of an idea for their task to help them bond with their dragon spirits. :)

**PinkAzn** - Oh I've done that before. I talk a lot, so it only makes sense I'm a blabber-typer, too. LOL. Hm, well, if you want to know you'll have to ask him. I'm too shy. LOL. And as much as it might seem the other way, like you said, GOD, THAT BOY IS HOT! But I am working on the courage to message him and ask him if it was real or an act. (ponders)

Omega Ranger? That's Sam, I think. LOL! Sky is the Blue SPD Ranger. The one with the rule book stuck in his arms (and to some people, up his… Ahem). The one with the father who was a Red Ranger and he always wanted to be a Red Ranger, then he gets stuck with Blue.

Ah yes, the beloved shirtless Hunter moments… Speaking of which… (reads over chapter) Hmmm…not this chapter… Must be the next one. There's a mention of Hunter shirtless, if I remember right. LOL True, I had a lot of extreme sports, but I wasn't spending too much time thinking about it. I thought for a moment and picked the first thing that crossed my mind, that wasn't already taken by one of the other Rangers.

Thanks for your reviews! This week I have two chapters to update, so…. (Gets to updating)

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(Blake's POV)

When we finally slowed down, I found Hunter facing Kendra's, back. Well, we both were. We were at the edge of the forest, overlooking a large, tranquil lake, and she had her back to both of us. Also, she had her wings out, folded against her back neatly.

Somehow knowing something was wrong, I frowned and slowly looked over my shoulder, looking for any sign of my friends but also dreading what I may find.

Nothing.

Looking around almost frantically and feeling my heart race faster and faster with every second that passed, I spun fully to look back at the dark forest. "Bro?" I carefully scanned the dark woods, looking for any hint of movement or familiar form, but saw nothing. Hearing no reply, I turned my head. "Hunter!" I called louder.

"Wha…?" Turning to me, he frowned. "What's up?"

I raised an eyebrow. _Hasn't he….._ "Uh, take a good look around and tell me if something seems outta place."

Giving me a weird look, he slowly nodded and did so. "Well, other than being in a dark, creepy-"

"What's missing?" I interrupted, growing a little irritated.

Narrowing his eyes at me, he raised an eyebrow and folded his arms over his chest. "Dude, you're starting to pick up some bad habits from Cam." He opened his mouth to say something more when he closed it again and looked around again, his eyes narrowing even more in confusion. "Wait, where _is_ Cam? And where are the others?"

_Took you long enough._ I thought dryly as I folded my own arms over my chest.

"They'll be fine." Kendra stated in a low tone, still not turning away from the lake in front of us.

"Fine?!" Hunter cried incredulously as he spun to her. "You expect me to believe you?! First you come here, getting my bro in an accident…"

She flinched audibly at that, and I bit my lip, trying to stay out of this. This was between Hunter and Kendra. Meanwhile, my mind kept going over how I possibly didn't notice that Tori wasn't behind me.

"Then you push me off a cliff… You're obviously not telling us everything, and now our friends are gone, and all you have to say is 'they'll be fine'?!" he continued, stalking closer to her with ever word, almost in a rage.

"Bro!" I yelled, having enough of his rant. Don't get me wrong, I understood where it was coming from, but it wasn't helping our situation in the least. "That's enough!" The only thing his ranting was accomplishing was wasting our time.

Slowly turning around, Kendra sighed. "I…only know that the bonding process can be difficult." She admitted uncertainly. "Your bodies have to adjust to the new power, and you'll have to deal with your senses being really heightened. If you're learning all this, and one of them sneaks up behind you, even unintentionally…." Biting her lip, she looked back towards the lake before turning back and finally meeting my brother's eyes. "It's instinctual. You'll be running on pure instinct."

Taking a step forward, she raised her hand and pointed at Hunter's forehead. "Think about it. If someone snuck up on you, and you were confused, would you remain still when they touched your arm, startling you? Or would you react? How would you react?"

Closing my eyes, I thought about it. "Well, if I was lost, confused and someone startled me, I'd probably strike out, instinctively."

"Exactly." She stated firmly. "You'd strike out. Now imagine being stronger than normal, and having powers you have to learn to control. Imagine that instinct to protect yourself, only ten times stronger."

"So you're saying we'd be a danger to them?" I asked, feeling my throat dry up. An image of me hurting Tori crossed my mind, which led me back to when I'd used her to find Ops. Feeling that knot of guilt in my stomach, I swallowed heavily. Sure, it was a long time ago, but it still felt like yesterday, and even if she seemed to have gotten past it, it still haunted me at times.

"You'll hook up with them again." She continued with a smile. "It's a safety measure. There's nothing in the woods that can hurt them, so they'll be safe until you join up with them again."

I looked at Hunter. I believed her. I don't know why, but I did, but it was up to him at this point. It was _his_ dreams she came to, and _him_ she went to in her dragon form, before. I didn't understand, but somehow, I just knew this was up to him.

He looked troubled. "I don't know if I believe you." He said quietly. "Honestly, I don't know what to think. I don't know if I trust you. But if anything happens to our friends…" He left off with a glare so cold, I felt a shiver run down my spine.

Her eyes turned sad and she nodded. "They'll be safe." She stated again, turning back to the lake. Turning to the side, she glanced at us both briefly. "The way is this way." She instructed as she began to walk briskly along the shore.

"You're not gonna push me off another cliff, are you?" Hunter grumbled quietly to himself as he hesitantly followed her.

Raising an eyebrow at him, I turned back the way we'd come, biting my lip and resisting the urge to go looking for the others. I knew they could handle themselves, but I still didn't like just leaving them behind like this.

"Blake, you coming bro?" Hunter called from ahead some place.

Lowering my face to the ground, I stared at it for a moment before shaking my head and turning, sprinting in the direction my brother had gone. _You guys better be ok!_

(Kendra's POV, Pathway to the Cavern)

_Why _did_ we have to separate them?_ I wondered silently as I walked briskly along the shore. I kept outwardly silent as I questioned different things in my mind. Ahead of me was the path to the cave, but for the moment, I paid it no heed. _Would they really be that much of a threat to their friends? They would know, instinctively, who those people were, and it would keep them from really hurting them…. Wouldn't it?_ Hearing faint splashes, I allowed myself to focus on the path ahead of me, quickly drawing ever closer.

It was a narrow dirt path, surrounded on either side by a seemingly bottomless lake. And in that lake, many creatures dwelled. Most were normal fish, and other aquatic life, but there were some to be wary of.

My mind flashed to the large, slimy snake-like creatures I'd once seen rise from the waters to devour a lizard folk that had happened to fall into the crystal clear blue waters. No, they weren't normally called Lizard folk, but I didn't know what else to call them. They were draconic, but seemed a lot less wild and dangerous than dragons.

As my eyes raised to the sky, I felt a mild shiver run up my spine as I took in the dark, threatening clouds. Sure, this place was always dark and gloomy. It wouldn't be much of a creepy setting if the forest was light and sunny, filled with little bunny rabbits hopping around, and baby deer running through the bright and cheery woods, now would it?

"How much longer till we're there?" Hunter called from behind me, his patience easily wearing thin.

Still my mind stayed on the clouds. I knew a storm was brewing. The air was heavy with the scent of rain, and though there was no distant sound of thunder, I knew it would come. As with a lot of storms, this one would hit hard, without any warnings to herald it's coming.

It made our path that much more dangerous. Especially with the storm about to hit any-

_BOOM!_

Closing my eyes to keep from being blinded by the flash of lightning, I raised an eyebrow as I sensed both brothers jump at the sound and flash. I knew that unlike me, they didn't know this was coming.

Opening my eyes again, I looked at the path and sighed as I watched the water turn choppy, waves crashing over the dirt we'd have to cross, making it muddy and slippery.

The threat wasn't getting blown over, or hit by a wave, but simply slipping and falling into the water.

"Where did _that_ come from?!" I heard Hunter demanding.

Rolling my eyes, I briefly wondered if there was anything that ever made him _not_ annoyed and irritable. I could easily feel his nerves wearing off on me as I, too, became irritable.

"It's a storm." I replied loudly, over the sudden increase in the wind. My hair flapped wildly around my face, and I pushed it over my shoulder. "Don't tell me you've never experienced once before." I added sarcastically as I kept going. I knew my attitude wasn't helping, but at that moment, I was annoyed. Annoyed by his constant attitude, and annoyed that things kept seeming to get in the way of my getting them back to the cavern with the spirits.

I was almost tempted to ask 'why me?'.

I knew he'd make a comment fore sure, so I sighed quietly to myself and kept moving towards the path. "We better hurry. The longer this storm rages, the worse the path will be for crossing."

As I moved forward, I heard him and Blake arguing quietly to each other, but also heard their footsteps splashing in the mud behind me, showing they were following.

This time, it was Blake's voice that came to me, considerably more calm and patient. "What do you mean 'worse'? It's just a lake on either side, we can swim out if we fall in….right?"

Spinning on my heel, I slipped a little but managed to keep my balance. Shooting him a look that said 'you sure about that?', and shook my head. "Nothing about this place is _ordinary_," I stated pointedly. "And trust me, you _don't_ want to fall in!" Turning back, I stopped by the edge of the path and looked across it, noticing the spots that were clearly muddy and very likely slippery.

_If we had the time…_ Closing my eyes, I stepped out on to the path and began the journey across it. _That's just it though, we _don't_ have the time._ In fact, time was very much against us. As much as I would've loved to stop and wait out the storm, giving the path a chance to dry, we just didn't have that luxury.

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Hope you like it.

Just something that hit me about the chapter with the red headed/green eyed girl… I originally had her looking at rollerblading/skateboarding stuff, then had her coming in with 'hiking' ropes. I meant that she was just browsing and ended up getting rock climbing ropes. O.o LOL.

Just a thought that hit me, but I kept forgetting to mention it in earlier chapters, Kendra _can't_ read the thoughts of others or speak telepathically with them. It was simply that she could sense his emotions and read his expressions.

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"Ok, this would have been nice to know with _all_ of us here!"

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R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	16. Reaching the Cavern

Starts with the others, goes into Blake and Hunter

(Looks over chapter)… Hope you liked it, enjoy!

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(With the others, Normal POV)

"Are you _sure_ we're going the right way?!" Tori called as she ducked under a branch and slid a little on the slippery path. Wiping her damp hair out of her face, she squinted through the rain. "And where'd this storm come from?!"

Sighing a little as he stopped a moment, Cam turned to find Shane behind him with Dustin at his side and Tori just a little behind them both. "We can always have Shane check again." He stated pointedly. "But do you really want to put him through that?"

Frowning, Tori bit her lip as she tried to see through the woods. It did her no good. If the woods were dark before, they were almost pitch black now, and ninja or not, it's not like she had night vision. "I just…" Shaking her head, she groaned and pulled a hair band off her wrist in irritation, pulling her hair back in a ponytail to keep it out of her face.

Dustin smiled a little and walked over, putting an arm around her shoulder and watching as Shane did the same on the other side, sharing an understanding look with him. "Dude, we know. You're worried about Blake." He stated with a touch of a smirk.

"Yeah." She agreed quietly. Then her eyes widened and she quickly looked at them both. "And Hunter!" she added hastily.

That made Shane and Dustin chuckle slightly and Cam shared a small smile. "Tori, we all know you like Blake." He stated confidently.

"It's obvious." Dustin added.

"And if it's obvious to an airhead like Dustin, I think it's safe to say it's obvious to everyone else." Cam finished with a shake of his head, folding his arms over his chest.

Looking to the ground, Tori bit her lip, feeling her face heat up. _It was that obvious all this time?_

"Yeah, hey. Wait a minute!" Dustin frowned at Cam after a moment, catching on to what he was saying.

Laughing softly, Tori took a deep breath and reached up, putting her arms around Shane and Dustin's necks as she shook her own head. "Ok, ok, I get it." She laughed out lightly. Looking to the forest, she let the humor slip away and her face turned worried once more. "I'm just worried, ok? Who knows what they have to go through, or what's even in these woods."

"Well we won't find out standing here and debating about it." Cam pointed out with a raised eyebrow.

Nodding a little, she pulled away from the guys, feeling a little better knowing she had their support. For all their teasing and sometimes arguing, they were like big brothers to her. Family, and she didn't know what she'd do without them.

Hey, even hunter, in his own dark, broody, indifferent way, was like a brother to her.

"Let's go then, it looks like this storm's going to get worse before it gets better." Shane stated with a dark face as he looked up at the clouds, which had only gotten darker since the storm began. "I don't like the looks of how this is turning out."

"I've never seen a storm hit so suddenly with so little warning." Cam stated thoughtfully.

"Yeah, well, a lot about this place isn't exactly normal." Tori muttered with a frown as she rubbed her arms and looked around. "Hidden by an underwater cavern, lizard things in the woods, strange energies all around us…"

"Let's keep moving," Shane stated, starting forward. "Like Cam said, we won't find out standing here, right?"

Sharing a determined look with the others, the small group once again started out, heading towards what they hoped was the right direction to lead them to their friends.

(With Hunter and Blake, Normal POV)

With another slide, Blake grabbed Hunter's arm to keep him from ending up in the raging waters on either side of the slippery path. Looking ahead, he noticed that even Kendra was stepping with care, but what he didn't understand was why she insisted on going now. Why couldn't they wait until the storm was over at least? Did they really have that little time?

Hunter glared at Kendra's back as he stalked after her. A large part of him wanted to yell 'forget this', turn around and leave, but something kept pushing him to continue. He didn't like it, that's for sure, but for some reason, he found himself chasing after her anyways. "You know, you could at least have waited till _after_ the storm!" he shouted over the rain, pushing his soaked hair out of his face. Frowning deeply, he vaguely noted that even though it was raining, he wasn't cold.

In fact, he was warm. Too warm, like he'd been in the sun too long.

Biting his lip, he felt his eyes narrow as he looked at his brother, watching as Blake wiped a hand across his forehead and over his face before slipping and sliding along beside him.

"We don't have the-"

"Time. Yeah, yeah, we know." The blond ninja interrupted her before she could finish. "You keep saying that, but then avoid the whole issue of _what are we trying to stop from happening_!?" Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and pulled his sticky shirt away from his body, frowning and shaking it out a little.

Stopping, Kendra closed her own eyes and turned around, inhaling sharply when she came face to face with Hunter, who'd barely managed to keep himself from walking into her. Their faces were literally only inches away from each other, and she immediately felt herself get lost in the depths of the surprised but angry blue orbs that stared back at her. Blinking and managing to shake herself out of the trance, she looked away and took a single step back, sliding a little in the mud. "I haven't told you because I'm not really sure myself. I only know it's an evil force after a corrupted dragon energy in a dark crystal."

Taking a deep breath, she turned and began walking again, her eyes focused on the path, but her mind focused on the visions. "For generations it's been hidden on a small island. There are….measures to protect it, but a dark force has found it, and is currently working it's way past the measures." Frowning to herself, she recalled the man in the dream. "He was all dressed in black, wearing a black mask over is face, with long black hair, and a thirst for power in his eyes."

"Sounds like someone we know." Blake muttered quietly.

Her eyes narrowed at his words, sensing she wasn't supposed to hear that, but she remained quiet about it. "He gets a hold of the crystal and turns into a dark dragon, his energies corrupting those around him into horrible monsters. Just the release of the power alone is enough to send the world into disaster. As we speak, he's getting closer and closer. That's why time is against us." She explained as detailed as she could, focusing on what she thought they most desperately needed to know.

She left out the six figures, the Power Rangers, because she'd been isolated in this forest for a bit, and didn't know how they tied into the Bradley brothers.

"So in other words, Lothor's up to his usual schemes." Hunter stated with a frown as he looked at Blake. "Ok, this would have been nice to know with _all_ of us here!" he added loudly for Kendra to hear.

Ignoring his first comment, since she didn't know who 'Lothor' was, Kendra rolled her eyes, feeling her irritation rise again. "Why? What would you do about it? All rush off to try and save the world?" she called back in irritation. Shaking her head, she rubbed her temples as she took a step forward and slipped, landing on her knees in the mud.

A moment later, and she felt an arm tugging on hers, and rose shakily to her feet, mentally cursing the weather. Looking to her helper, she sighed and nodded with a small, grateful nod to Blake as he let her arm go.

"I'm just saying it would have been nice to know." Hunter repeated quietly through clenched teeth.

Spinning in place, she leveled a glare at him. "Look, can we save the bad attitude problems for later?" she snapped. "We're almost there and then you guys can bond, and go and maybe never even see me again." Turning back to the cavern ahead of them, she stomped off angrily, still trying to be careful not to slip.

"Yeah, right. As if it'd be _that_ easy." The elder Bradley grumbled with a roll of his eyes.

Nudging his big bro, Blake shook his head, walking after Kendra as his mind flashed to the others. Or, more specifically, Tori. He was worried about her, and hoped that what Kendra had said was true, and they were safe. He was lost about what was going on. There was too much to try and take in, so pushing it aside, he walked carefully towards the cavern looming ahead of them.

Looking to their destination, Hunter frowned deeply at the crimson and Navy crystals he could make out around the entrance to the cave. They looked like the ones back in the first cave, and he wondered what kind of connection they had. He also noticed that there were white crystals, but they weren't glowing, like the others. Taking a deep breath, he groaned in irritation at how confining his shirt felt, and he noticed that it seemed like it was getting hotter and hotter. "What's with the weather here?!" He shouted. "First storms that hit without warning, now it's raining and instead of getting colder, it's getting hotter!" Pulling off his shirt, he balled it up in one hand and continued on, breathing a small sigh of relief when he almost immediately felt cooler.

Beside him, Blake followed his example and tied his shirt around his waist.

That comment made Kendra giggle a little. She'd been here long enough that it had almost become normal for her. She didn't really notice it, but she forgot that they weren't used to weather like this. "It's just kinda backwards!" she called helplessly, without even turning around. "I think you've noticed there's a lot weird about this place."

"And it's people." Hunter added grumpily as he stalked on.

Biting her lip, Kendra felt a pang of hurt at his words, but knew that he was right. Then again, she'd been in this forest with dragon spirits and lizard folk as her companions for probably close to a year or so now, so she'd almost forgotten what the outside world was like. Remaining silent, she stepped off the end of the path and up to the large opening to the cave. "We're here." She stated barely loudly enough for them to hear her.

Stepping forward, she entered the cabin, the Brothers on her heels.

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Hm, so we're approaching the cavern.

Yes, I know I mentioned the Rangers in her vision before, which is why I mentioned them now. I am trying to keep her from being brilliant and magically figuring out the connection. LOL. I don't know if any of this made sense.

Oh yeah and I just wanted to give them a reason to be shirtless. (drools) LOL!! So, since I made so much about this place different, I figured, why not the weather, too? LOL!!. Sorry.

Hope you liked it.

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"Maybe we're farther than we thought?"

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R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	17. Chapter 17

Starts Hunter oriented, and goes into the others.

**And side note, for the reader who asked about shirtless Hunter (Just woke up, so my brain's not working yet O.o…I had to edit this line a few times for spelling mistakes o.O) on NS, I just got word from a reliable source (out of the devil's mouth, himself) it was real and not part of the show. ;) Either way it worked.**

For all Hunter and Blake fans, get ready for lots of brotherly bonding time! It's coming up and will last a few chapters! Coming up around chapter 22! I will still be switching POVs, but it will be mostly focused on Blake and Hunter.

**GinaStar** - You're going to LOVE the brotherly part then. Lots of shirtless action coming!

**Pinklen98** - No worries, they'll be fine. They're the heros, and I don't write tragedy, so… Glad you like it! Hahahaha, like I said for **GinaStar**, lots of shirtless action coming up. Lol. If I ever win the lottery, I'll employ Adam and Jorge to play Hunter and Blake and make a movie. Lol. Well, so much about my story is similar to my other one, with the dragons, so anything I can to make it different is a good thing.

**Aroura528** - True, true. I didn't want to make her see him as a brother so soon. I wanted to give time for things to develop. Well things are definitely beginning to pick up, that's for sure. LOL.

**Black Rouge** - You know, I didn't even think of background for her. I mean, just a girl who bonded to the dragons, but it hit me you're right, she has no background. I'll definitely work on that as the story progresses.

**JuseaPeterson** - lol I know. I wanted to go more into their feelings and thoughts and I know that the two most important people to Blake are Tori and Hunter. As for helping Kendra up, Hunter was in to bad of a mood to, and I wanted to show that Blake's a little more open and friendly. Lol. I finally got the test figured out, it's Greek Mythology based. That's all I'm saying for now on that. Lol.

Yeah, I'm going for irritated, but he grows on her. Lol. There will be creepy/gross parts through it, but not too many…I hope.

Lol I know! I knew people would love that, and just wait, it gets better! Think two hot, shirtless guys on a hot island for a mission. Lots of brotherly bonding and shirtless battles and such. (Sends both brothers over to keep **Jusea** company) Oh I know, they're irritated with each other, lol. I didn't want to jump from them being in the forest to at the cavern, plus I wanted to put in possible dangers, and you'll see soon enough that I have a plan for that pathway. Lol.

It's Blake. His thoughts are going to keep bouncing back to Tori until he knows for sure she is safe. Lol.

Thanks for the reviews guys. I think I might have mentioned to **Jusea** that there would be multiple chapters this week, I have the chapters to post, yes. I'm just trying to decide post them all at once, now, or wait in case I need them later. There should be a second chapter update this week though. I'm not making any promises, things have picked up again.

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(Hunter's POV)

The first thing I noticed when I entered the cavern was that it was a lot cooler inside. I took a second to relax and enjoy it when it made me realize there was a warmth against my chest. Looking down, I felt my eyes widen when I saw my crystal figuring glowing.

"Uh, bro?" Blake's uncertain voice carried over to me from my side.

Looking over, I frowned in confusion and worry to see his necklace glowing as well. "What?" My gaze immediately turned to Kendra, who looked at us with an eerily calm face, highlighted in the dark cavern by our glowing necklaces. "What's going on?!" Her eyes almost seemed like she was focused on our pendants and she didn't reply, making what little patience I had left, begin to fray. "Look, are you going to tell me-"

She cut me off as her eyes snapped to mine. "We're close, the pendants are responding to the dragon spirits." Turning on her heel, she abruptly walked on.

"Ok, I've about had it with all this." I grumbled. Stalking after her, I challenged what she knew. "Ok, and how are the crystals linked to the dragons?"

"Half of their life energy is locked up inside the crystals. That, and what they have left in them must be freed so they can bond with you." She answered distractedly.

Ok, I had to give her that one, but still… "Released? What do you mean?" This crystal was the last thing I had left of my birth mother, I didn't want to lose it, and I didn't like the sound of what she said.

"Well, obviously the power has to be removed from the necklaces." She deadpanned, still in that same distracted tone.

I opened my mouth to snap at her, but felt a nudge in my side and closed it again, turning to look at Blake who gave me a look. He turned in her direction and nodded a little after a moment, processing what she'd said, I guessed.

"Ok, so the energy has to be released, but how?" he asked patiently.

Raising an eyebrow, I shook my head silently at my brother's continuing patience. _How in the world does he manage that?!_

"Well, there are a couple ways. Smash the pendants…"

"No!" I stated firmly and loudly, clutching the warm pendant in my hand.

She turned her head, and to my surprise her look was understanding. "It's _one_ way." She repeated softly. Turning back, she continued down the dark path, the cavern walls glowing softly with crystals, just like the ones outside and in the cave we were in when we surfaced from the underwater tunnel. "Another, is that I think the dragons can pull the power out when you're close enough."

Yeah, it was safe to say I liked the second option better. Looking around the cave, I finally gave myself a chance to really take everything in. It was dark, almost pitch black, but was lit with the various navy and crimson crystals all over the walls and floors. Again, the white crystals were there, but… "Wait, why aren't the white crystals glowing?"

"Because there's no energy left to flow through them. They only stopped glowing a day or two ago, actually." Kendra stated in her soft tone, still walking ahead. "I've already bonded to my dragon spirit and so it's energy is inside me." Reaching out, she laid a hand gently along a white crystal and I watched as it began to glow faintly before it faded as she removed her hand.

"Dude, you mean we'll be able to do that, too?" I asked as I blinked away my shock and turned to lay a hand against a navy crystal. I knew these had to be linked to my brother's energy, or dragon spirit energy, or whatever. The crystal was warm and left a tingling sensation, almost electrical.

"Hmm…"

Turning in Kendra's direction, I watched as she stopped before a turn in the path.

"Yes, after a little time to adjust to the dragon spirits." She answered after a moment.

Now Blake frowned and his eyes narrowed a little. "But I thought you said time was against us." He questioned a little suspiciously.

Turning with a smirk on her face, Kendra raised an eyebrow. "Ok, yes, it is. But do you really want to go back untrained? Your senses will be extremely heightened, and you'll be able to sense things you couldn't before. You have to learn to control the instinctive side to you."

"Ok, probably not a good idea, then." He muttered quietly with a shake of his head. Turning back the way we'd come, he frowned a little before turning back to Kendra. "Alright, let's go then."

I knew his mind was on the others. Tori. He was worried about her, despite what Kendra said about them being safe. Besides, she'd only said they'd be safe in the woods. With a silent groan, and rubbing at my temples, I continued on behind our guide.

I had a feeling they weren't just going to stay behind, in the forest.

(With the Others, Tori's POV)

"So, we should've probably hit the lake by now, right?" Dustin asked unsurely. "The one around that cave we were heading to?" Wiping his soaked hair out of his face, he squinted through the dark, clearing.

Frowning to myself, I looked around us. We'd been running in what we thought was the right direction, but still hadn't hit the lake yet. And with this storm, we were having a hard time staying on our feet. How long ago did it start? And it still didn't look like it was going to let up any time soon.

"With this storm, we could have gotten turned around." Cam admitted lowly. "It's just too dark to see!"

I shook my head, the end of my ponytail hitting me in the side of the face, and looked around again. It was a massive clearing with the occasional tree or small pile of boulders. Biting my lip, I tried to scan for any sign that we were on the right path, or even close to where we were meant to be. "Shane…?" I paused a moment before turning to him. "When you were looking around, was there a big clearing between us and the lake?"

He frowned and folded his hands over his chest, his one hand resting on his chin in thought. "I'm not sure. I don't think so."

"Well, we're standing in a clearing. If this wasn't near the lake, then we're going the wrong way." Closing my eyes, I tried to feel the energies of the water. See if there was any run of, or large pools, but like with Shane's experience, I noticed the energy was electrified. Still, ignoring the uncomfortable tingling sensation that only seemed to keep getting worse, I concentrated harder.

"Tori?" I heard Cam's voice calling me, and I held up a hand as I felt around for the lake.

Nothing.

With a loud, irritated groan, I opened my eyes again and looked to the others. "I'm not sensing anything." I told them in confusion. "I mean, sure, the rain and any puddles, but no lake."

"Maybe we're farther than we thought?" Dustin asked.

I knew the best chance to find out would be for Shane to use his powers again, but after last time, none of us wanted to put him through that. "Maybe we should split up." I offered uncertainly. _I already lost Blake and Hunter, I don't want to lose Cam, Shane and Dustin, too._ My mind argued, but I kept my argument silent as I looked to the guys. "I mean, we're not going in the right direction, if we split up, we can cover more ground."

Shane shook his head firmly and Dustin gave me an almost scolding look for thinking of it. "No way, Tor. We're not splitting up."

Shane had slipped back into leader, and overprotective big brother mode, again.

"It's too dangerous, who knows what's out there?!" He insisted firmly.

I raised an eyebrow and stared him down firmly, my own arms over my chest. "Hunter and Blake are out there." I reminded him.

"Yeah and so are a bunch of weird lizard people." He argued. "And god knows what else."

"So what do we do then?" I challenged. "Run around like chickens with our heads cut off?! We don't even know where we're going!"

He sighed and stepped forward. "Then I'll check."

"Shane…" Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath, trying to be logical, and rational. "There's a weird electrical energy in everything."

"Like you said, we're running around like chickens with our heads cut off." He reminded me with a raised eyebrow. Smiling a bit, he shook his head. "I'll be quick about it, but I don't wanna split up out here. I don't trust anything about this place."

"Yeah, like the sudden, nasty storms." I agreed with a face.

Chuckling a little, he closed his eyes and made the hand symbols I'd learned to recognize by now. Slowly, he rose into the air, and once again I noticed the strange electrical energy coursing over his body, and how he shook. Still, he fought against it and rose higher until he reached the height he was looking for.

I watched carefully as he opened his eyes and looked around.

"Dude, we're totally going in the wrong direction!" he called down. Pointing off to our left, he nodded. "I think I just saw something entering that cave I told you about earlier."

_Blake, and Hunter._ Biting my lip, I looked in the direction he was pointing and had to fight with everything I had not to run off after them.

Slowly lowering himself back to the ground, he rolled his shoulders and looked off towards the way he'd been pointing. "We're pretty far, and it's not gonna be easy to make it in this storm."

"We have to try." I stated in determination, turning and heading towards the forest again.

"Tor, wait!" Cam called as I knew the others were following me. "This storm is making it almost impossible to see, and we don't know what's out there."

I kept walking, frowning to myself as I tried to ignore the feeling of my heart pounding uncomfortably against my chest. I knew what he was going to say, but I couldn't do it.

"We need to find shelter. This isn't helping us." He continued.

Shaking my head, I increased my pace into a run, refusing to stop. Seeing a flash of green cut in front of me, I managed to slide to a stop seconds before running Cam over.

"Hunter and Blake can take care of themselves. We've already gotten turned around once." He insisted. With a sigh, he looked away a moment before looking back, his eyes firm but understanding. "Look, after all Kendra put us through to get them here, I don't think she's going to hurt them."

Still, I looked longingly past him to the forest beyond. "Do we really wanna risk it?" I asked as I looked at Cam. "I just… I don't like that they're out there, and we can' help them if they need us."

"They can always call." Shane stated firmly as he raised his wrist and pointed to his morpher.

Dustin nodded. "Yeah, and like, then we can streak over and be there in seconds."

_Ok, good point._ I knew that if they needed us, we could be there in no time. If we streaked now, we could be at the cave before you could count to 10, but we weren't supposed to use our ninja abilities in public, and well, I guess this counted as public.

"Ok, Tori let's just wait for the storm to let up a little." Shane finally suggested. "As soon as it does, we'll continue our search."

"Fine." I stated in resignation, knowing they weren't just going to le this drop. "But as _soon_ as the storm lets up at all-"

"We'll continue." Cam agreed with a weary look. "Ok, I guess we need to find shelter for now, then."

We started off for the forest line, knowing we'd at least be partially covered there and could go from there. I tried to focus on where we were going, but Blake and Hunter kept popping up on my mind. Ok, ok, more like Blake kept popping up.

I just wished we hadn't been separated. I couldn't help being worried sick.

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Another chapter up. I struggled with what should happen in this one, really. I wanted to go for a fight, but backed myself into a block with it, so I didn't. The next chapter won't be right away, I have some things that need to be done today, but it should be within the next 24 hours for sure.

Well, hope you liked it anyways.

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"Ok, this is starting to get annoying."

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R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	18. The Bonding Begins

Blake and Hunter, Blake's POV, like the brackets say. LOL Blake oriented chapter.

I did say 24 hours for the next update, right? Good thing I thought about it, or I'd have forgotten. (yawns sleepily) So here's the next chapter. Review replies will be in the next chapter.

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(With Blake and Hunter, Blake's POV)

The farther we went through the passage, the brighter the crystals grew and the warmer the necklace I wore felt against my chest. I think a couple times I even felt it pulse with energy, but that was just my imagination, right?

Narrowing my eyes, I ducked under a low part of the path and continued on, just behind Hunter, who was following Kendra. _She did say that some of the dragon spirits' energy was flowing through these crystals._ I remembered with a bit of a shudder as another pulse hit me. _And that the crystals might react to being near the dragons._

"Ok, this is starting to get annoying." I heard Hunter mutter, and I raised my eyebrow.

_Starting?_ This was annoying a long time ago.

"Are we there yet?" He finished louder, for Kendra's benefit.

It was dark, and I could only see a shadow where she was, but I watched as it seemed to shrug before continuing through an opening in what appeared to be a wall. Glancing quickly to Hunter, I sighed quietly before walking up behind him and lightly nudging him to go on.

My mind kept flashing back to Tori and the others, but at the same time, I was struggling to focus on what was coming and what we had to do. Well, what we might have to do. To be honest, I was completely lost. What do we do when we face the dragons? What will be expected of us? But I'd then see Tori's face and my mind would turn to… Are the others ok? Is _she_ ok?? Were they hurt? Was Kendra lying to us just to get us to come along?

I couldn't focus that well. I knew we were close, but would Kendra really let us go to the others when we bonded? What if there were things she didn't tell us about?

Silently, I followed my older brother has he approached the wall. He looked uncertain but closed his eyes and sighed before ducking down, climbing through the opening.

Ducking through the opening, myself, I gasped sharply and cried out a little in surprise, hearing Hunter doing the same beside me, when the room seemed to flash brightly with light. Covering my eyes, I hunched down and waited for a moment before carefully peeking one eye opening, blinking away spots as the light faded. Beside me, Hunter was doing the same, a glare already forming on his face.

Before he could open his mouth however, Kendra spoke up. "You asked if we were there yet." She pointed out almost playfully.

Looking around, I felt my eyes widen at the sight of the room. It was very similar to the cavern we were in when we first arrived at the haunted forest, only this time there were tons more crystals, all of which were glowing more brightly. There was a large pond in the center of the room, surrounded by a lot of crystals, and hovering over the pond were two misty figures.

"Something tells me, this is a 'yes'." I muttered as I stared at the figures.

Slowly, they separated from a mixed mass of dark red and dark blue energies. They grew apart, hovering beside each other, and seemed to condense into more solid figures.

Figures of dragons.

One was a deep red with glowing eyes that didn't even seem to notice me as it's eyes were fixed solely on Hunter. The other was a deep sapphire blue, and it's eyes were glowing as well, fixed on me. Staring back, I felt torn between being confused and a little afraid, and strangely, feeling somewhat comforted by the gaze. I didn't feel threatened at all.

"I told you they'd come." I heard Kendra say. Turning to her, I was about to ask what she meant, but noticed her eyes were locked on the dragons with a softness more towards the red dragon. "I sensed the darkness…." Trailing off, it looked like her eyes went unfocused a moment before she nodded. "We're running out of time."

"Ok, so you're talking to them…?" My bro finally asked, seeming a little confused.

She nodded and turned to us. "You need to bond."

I nodded a moment and raised an eyebrow. "Ok, exactly how do we do that?"

Remaining silent, Kendra stepped off to the side and watched us carefully. My eyes were locked on hers, waiting for her to say something, but then it hit me she was waiting. Spinning back to the pond, I felt a powerful pulsing sensation against my chest, and a heat that burned me. Crying out in surprise and pain, I grabbed at the crystal, only to drop it when it became too hot to hold.

Looking at it, I watched as it glowed brightly and hovered in the air just inches from my chest.

"Uhhh…"

Turning my head, I glanced at Hunter, and noticed his necklace was doing the same thing.

He must've felt my gaze, because he turned to me with a thoroughly freaked look that also turned a bit worried when he saw my necklace. "Uh, are they supposed to be floating….? And glowing…?" he asked nervously.

Giving him what I was sure was a blank look, I turned towards Kendra, feeling my heart race. Just what was going on? Seeing her looking at us calmly, I didn't know whether to be reassured, or more worried.

Suddenly, she nodded, fully seriously. "It's time." She stated quietly, although it almost sounded like she was shouting.

I felt as if the energy was being sucked out of me. My body, which was hot from the temperature of the area, suddenly seemed to grow colder by the second, and I shivered unconsciously as I frowned and narrowed my eyes. My heart was pounding and I could almost feel the blood pumping through my veins. I took a step back, trying to sort out my confused mind, but it was like I was slowly freezing.

Switching my gaze to the necklace, I noticed the light fading from it, though it never wavered from it's place in front of my chest. So, they were draining the energy in it, but why did I feel the effects.

"Dude, what's going on?" Hunter cried in a confused tone.

"It's alright." Kendra said quietly, never moving from her place in the room.

Staring at her incredulously, I raised an eyebrow, vaguely noting as the room seemed to get darker. "_Alright_?!" I repeated loudly. "I feel like the life is being drained out of me, and you call it _alright_?!"

Suddenly, everything seemed to get very sharply in focus and very bright. Feeling a powerful jolt of energy run through me, I gasped sharply and my eyes closed against their will. It was like everything faded away. Some part of me kept listening for Hunter's voice, feeling for his presence beside me, but everything else melted away.

I knew I was still in the cave, still across from the dragons and Kendra, and beside my brother. Still, possibly in danger, but none of it mattered at the moment.

My whole body felt like it was filled with electrical energy. I felt like I was almost floating in place, and the coldness I'd felt, melted away and I was filled with warmth again.

It was….strangely comforting, familiar.

Then, the energy seemed to grow much more intense, and I cried out, feeling like I was being fried alive. As soon as the feeling came, it left, and I felt myself falling into the blissful darkness.

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Another chapter up. My next idea (That you'll see in the next chapter), JUST came to me. Keep in mind, the names are made up, as well as looks. Well, IF I use names, they will be made up. LOL

Hope you liked it.

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"Blake… Blake… Time to wake up sweetie."

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Please. R+R

Thank you.

Tenshi


	19. Blake's 'Dream'

Ok note right away, this chapter is Blake oriented. No Hunter's POV or any of the others, just Blake.

**Aroura528** - Well a little more action begins a little further down the road when Hunter and Blake go on their test/task/mission. Lol.

That's a very good question, and honestly, I'm not sure how to answer that. In spirit form, the dragons had a mind of their own, yes. But they don't have a physical form of their own, like when Kendra changes, she's still Kendra with her mind running a little more instinctual, because the dragon's senses are stronger in that form. Same will go for Hunter and Blake. But once they bond, the dragons become part of them. In a sense, they bond so completely, that the dragons' thoughts become Hunter and Blake's, and vice versa. The times you can tell the dragon is more in control, is when they get more aggressive/animalistic, or when their eyes are glowing. That will be explained more in the story.

And if they enter one of two stages I'll also mention later, in a sense, you can say the dragon does have it's own form, because those stages are when the dragon is in control almost completely.

**Pinklen98** - Shirtless battles and more. Lol. Well even though Hunter is number one in Blake's heart, Tori is a VERY close number two. Since he knows Hunter's more or less alright…

**GinaStar - **Thank you, I'm glad you liked it. :) LOL, I was trying to 'think' from Blake's POV so I tried to pick words he'd use here and there. I'm glad it worked.

**JuseaPeterson** - LOL. No thanks. You better keep him. If he's here, I'll never focus on my work. LOL I'm glad you liked the chapter. Well, it just hit me as I was writing, 'this would be a good place to do this. And that would be a good place to do that." It just hit me as I was writing, really. Well, soon, the interaction is going to change to Kendra/Carly/others, and Hunter/Blake, for a while.

Lol, well, having the dragon spirits just jump into their bodies just didn't seem right, so I wanted to try something different. Hm, the 'sweetie' comment gave it away I bet, didn't it? Lol.

This chapter is where the 'surprise' I mentioned before, comes into play.

**PinkAzn** - LOL!! Well, school definitely does have it's down sides, but think about it, coming back, you had more than just one chapter to read. Lol. Well, I have a LOT of chapters written, so I was doing double updates to post more and help get them down… Not working. LOL. I now have even more. O.o Better get a fan, maybe a cool towel… Because as I've said, very soon after the next chapter or two, there will be heaps of shirtless time with those two boys! (watches the hearts float right over to Hunter, who looks clueless about the little floating hearts in the air) So I see. LOL! Don't worry, I think everyone enjoys a little (or in Hunter's case, NOT so little) bit of shirtlessness. Lol.

Ok, on to the next chapter!

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**Dream**

"Blake…. Blake… Time to wake up sweetie." A soft, feminine voice called out. "Wake up now."

I was surrounded in warmth. Waving a hand half-heartedly at the person, it didn't register that I didn't recognize the voice. All I could think about was the warm, comfortable peace I was feeling. No worries, nothing plagued me. I just didn't want to wake up.

"That's enough of that, mister. It's time to wake up." Came a gentle, but more stern male voice as the woman laughed slightly.

Now it hit me that I didn't recognize either of them, and my eyes flew open. Launching myself into a sitting position, I felt something tighten around my body and legs, and I looked around in a panic, clearly remembering being in the cave with Hunter and Kendra.

I was in a room, a bedroom. A _familiar_ bedroom, although _if_ I had ever seen it before, it hadn't been in a _long_ time!

Searching every inch of the room, I felt my eyes narrow suspiciously. It was a child's room, by the looks of it. Lots of toys, painted with dark blue walls. Checking out around my, I found I was lying in a large bed, with even darker blue covers. That's what I'd felt tightening around my legs as I jumped.

"Are you awake now, sweetie?" came that female voice, but now it sounded amused.

My head shot up and my eyes landed on a young woman with long, wavy dark brown hair that bordered on black. She wore a pair of blue jeans and a maroon t-shirt, and she looked at me with soft brown eyes. Her skin tone was also dark, and strangely, she felt familiar to me.

But…it couldn't be.

Turning to the other person in the room, my eyes narrowed even further to find a young an in a business suit, with neatly combed black hair that fell to just below his ears, and brown eyes. Seeing my stare, he raised an eyebrow and his lips twitched in a slight grin. "Well, are you just going to sit there or get up?" he asked in amusement.

"Who are you?" I asked lowly, very slowly moving and getting out of bed, on the other side of it, farther from the strangers. "And where am I?" Looking around, I frowned deeply. "And where's my brother?! Hunter!" I called, hoping to hear him.

"He's safe, Blake." The man insisted, his eyes turning even more gentle. "You've finally bonded with your dragon spirit, I see."

Taken by surprise, I could only stare in shock at his blatant statement.

This caused the woman to laugh. "Don't you recognize us?"

Looking them both over again, I vaguely realized they kind of looked like me. _Wait…_ I once again scanned the room carefully.

_There's the toy dragon I used to play with._ I thought as my gaze settled upon a small, plastic golden dragon figurine. _Ironic_, I thought, all too aware of my current state. _But that was before Hunter._ Then I turned to a couple small toy soldiers. _My….dad bought me those._ Frowning to myself, my gaze turned back to the people in front of me. It all made so much sense, but I was almost afraid to believe my eyes.

"You can't be my parents." I said firmly with a shake of my head as I took a step back, feeling the wall pressing against my back. "They died when I was a kid, in a car accident."

I turned to the bed, and felt my heart beat painfully as I was hit with a memory.

**Flashback**

I was only about four years old, and sick with a bad cold.

"It's ok honey, mommy will take care of you."

The woman was there, leaning over my bed with a gentle smile on her face as she brushed back my damp bangs and put a wet wash cloth on my forehead. Brushing her hand along my cheek, I could swear I could feel a warmth run through my face at her touch.

"See? I bet you feel better already." She continued.

Frowning a little, I noted I was feeling better. Not as achy or sick, but I wasn't a hundred percent. I nodded and watched as she smiled before nodding back.

"You get some sleep now. You want to feel better soon so you can go out and play, right?" Her eyes were teasing as she leaned down and kissed the top of my head. "I love you baby, goodnight."

**End Flashback**

"It wasn't a car accident, son." The man stated with a sigh. "We were killed, protecting the forbidden power from falling into the wrong hands."

"We succeeded, but the cost was too great. I'm so sorry we had to leave you, Blake." The woman said sadly, her eyes filling with tears.

"But you're dead, how can you be here?" I asked shakily, wanting so badly to run to them and hug them both, but not daring to let myself. "You just said so yourself, you were killed." I felt my own eyes filling with tears but struggled not to let any fall. _Is this really real?_

"Your mother is dragon clan." The man, my father, replied with a soft smile. "I was just a ninja at the time, but when we met, it was like nothing I'd ever felt before. I knew right away that I had feelings for her."

That made me think back to when Dustin introduced my brother and me to Shane and Tori. Shane I dismissed right away, my mind focused on my mission, but Tori… One look at her and it was like the world faded away. All I could think about was how someone so sweet could be one of our enemies. I got lost instantly in her blue eyes, and all I could think of was how beautiful she was. I found it so difficult to fight her. I wanted to talk to her, find out her side of the story, but I kept remembering the dead serious look on Lothor's face.

What I can't believe now is how my brother and I could fall for his tricks. Why hadn't I realized before that I just _knew_ she wasn't involved, that there was something wrong with Lothor's story?

"Blake."

Focusing on the present again, I looked at my parents.

"We're here through her power, but this is the only time." My father continued sadly. "After this, we move on. We can finally rest."

Frowning to myself, I nodded quietly, still feeling the tears prickling at my eyes, trying to find a way out. _So this is a last goodbye?_ I questioned mentally.

"Sweetie, your power will have it's ups and downs. All dragons clan members do." My mother stated with an almost regretful look on her face. "We sealed your powers in order to protect you from all this, hoping they'd never have to be unsealed…" She trailed off and closed her eyes.

Placing a hand on her shoulder, my father gave a small smile before turning to me. "We can sense an evil presence being swayed by the corrupt energy of the Black Dragon, which lies in a forbidden crystal on a small island. There was one instance in the past that a similar evil tried to get a hold of it, but we beat them back…"

_Yeah, at the cost of your life._ I thought almost bitterly.

"But now we can't fight him." He continued. "He has grown stronger and we no longer have the physical form to take him on. That's where you and your brother come in."

My ears perked up at this. Through all of their story, this was the first time they'd spoken of Hunter.

"We knew his parents. They were our best friends and died getting you and him to safety. Though you are not blood brothers, there was always a closeness to you two, ever since you were children."

"Wait, you're saying I knew Hunter as a child?" I asked as I waved a hand for them to stop. Thinking back, there was a lot about my childhood I couldn't remember. "Well, yeah, we were adopted as kids…."

"You knew each other before you were adopted, but you were both too young to remember it." My mother said softly.

I nodded a moment, going over everything they were telling me. "So because you're both dead, it's up to Hunter and me to fight this new evil?"

They exchanged an almost amused look before nodding. It was my father who spoke up then. "Well, that's a rather simple way to put it, and you will need the help of your friends, but yes."

I took a moment to absorb all this. "So you two used mom's power to come…" I shrugged and looked around cluelessly. Was I in another dimension? In the past? In a dream? After a moment, I decided it didn't really matter, as long as I could get back. "Here." I finished lamely. "To tell me that these powers aren't all blessing and that it's up to Hunter and me, along with the others, to fight a new evil power?"

"Not new, it's the same one you've been fighting all along." My mother stated with a raised eyebrow and a look that stated I should have known that already. "But yes, basically. That, and we wanted to see you one last time."

I bit my lip, only vaguely aware that I picked that habit up from Tori, and nodded a little, knowing this would be the last time I saw my parents.

"If I'm not mistaken, I'm sure that Hunter's parents have done the same." My father put in thoughtfully. Looking at me, he smiled. "We've been watching over you the best we could, and I have to say, I'm impressed. I'm very proud of you, son. You've grown into quite the young man."

Now I looked away, recalling how easily Lothor lied to us before, and then how we acted brashly and got brainwashed. "Not that impressive." I mumbled quietly, still feeling the hurt and shame of when I betrayed Tori, and the pain of when I had to face Hunter alone.

I knew he didn't mean it, but it didn't make it hurt any less. I didn't blame him, but it _did_ hurt.

"Son."

I looked at my father.

"Everyone makes mistakes. Despite them, you're fighting for good. I am very proud of the decisions you've made."

My mom nodded. "_We're_ proud of you." She put in with an amused nudge to my father. "It won't be easy, but this is the destiny you've chosen. Just remember that we love you and we're watching out for you."

Walking forward, she embraced me warmly, an embrace I returned easily. It felt strange, hugging her, but also nice.

As she stepped back, it was my father's turn to give me a hug. It also felt strange, but no less nice. Once he stepped back, I noticed they were becoming see through, and things seemed to be getting blurry.

"Mom?" I questioned in confusion, not ready to let them go. "Dad?!"

They smiled at me lovingly as they faded away, and I was once again taken into the darkness, only this time, I didn't want to go.

**End Dream**

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Oh yeah, did I forget to mention this is a longer chapter? LOL. I can already see questions coming, and no, I was not planning to go to much into Hunter's dream, but there will be mentions of it, yes. Well, we'll see as I write it, because I never make a plan, I just write. LOL

Only one chapter this time, I'm not promising, but I might upload another one before the weekend. Sorry, really busy today, as usual -.-'

Hope you like it.

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"You don't remember me, do you?"

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R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	20. Hunter's 'Dream'

Ok, so I was wrong and I did go into detail, but not as much as with Blake, ok? LOL. I don't know anything about how either boy would act if faced with their parents, so please don't get angry for anything said/done that might have been not said/done differently. Otherwise, enjoy. This is a Hunter-centric chapter, just dealing with his meeting his parents.

So basically, Hunter and Hunter's POV this chapter.

Review replies will come in next week's update, just because it's a little early for me and I'm not quite awake enough to shake my laziness at the moment. :P LOL

Oh and I think I'll upload one more chapter after this seeing as the two really kind of go together. Just a note, I may only upload one chapter here and there, simply because I want to try and save some of the ones I have written. This way, if things get so busy, that I don't have time to write, I'll have chapters to fall back on.

It's fairly detailed for Hunter's dream, but not quite as much as Blake. Hope you like it.

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(Back in the Cave, Hunter's POV)

Man it was freaky! One minute, I'm standing next to Blake, wondering what in the world Kendra was up to, or if we should even have trusted her in the first place, the next, we're standing in front of two floating balls of mist in dragon form. And that's not even half of it! Next, our pendants started glowing, but Kendra seemed unafraid and not worried.

Did that reassure me at all?

No!

If anything, I was sure I was more suspicious of her in that moment, than the entire trip.

Well, like I said, our pendants started glowing. Then, I felt like I was stuck in a super freezer or something. My body got cold, and I felt myself getting weaker. I think I collapsed to my knees at one point, but I'm not sure. My memory of it is pretty foggy.

"Dude…!" Groaning, I sat up and rubbed my head, feeling like someone had just finished tap dancing on my skull. Frowning, I looked around and found myself back in the cave. _So it was all just a dream?_ I thought groggily, recalling my run in with the two people I never thought I'd see again.

**Flashback**

I don't know what happened. One moment I was ready to grab Kendra and demand some answers, while shivering away and trying to remain standing, the next everything went black.

When I finally came to, I was laying on the ground in what looked like a large field. Opening my eyes fully, I closed them again and groaned as the bright blue sky made me go temporarily blind.

"What the…?" Turning my head and pushing myself into a sitting position, I looked around better, blinking away spots as I frowned deeply. "Blake?" Turning to where he should have been, I felt myself panic when he wasn't there. "Bro! Blake!"

I jumped up and looked around wildly.

I was standing in the middle of a large field, filled with long grass and surrounded on one side by dense forest, and the other by a clear blue ocean. _Wait…_ Looking more carefully, I noted a long dirt path leading to a large cave, surrounded my numerous multicolored crystals, none of which were glowing.

"That's the cave we're in!" I cried, recognizing it even thought it looked different.

Before we entered the cave, I recalled it only had less than half of the crystals, and instead of being bright and cheery, the place was dull and creepy. It didn't make any sense. Had I gone back in time? Forward? Maybe I just missed the storm and it was bright now, but then, why was I suddenly outside the cave? And where was Blake?!

"BLAKE!!" I yelled loudly, hoping he'd just wandered off. I knew he was afraid for Tori and the others, mainly Tori. Turning to look over my shoulder at the woods, I squinted and tried to look through them, see if I could find my brother running off, but there was no sign.

Turning back to the cave, I narrowed my eyes, not really certain what I should do. I wanted to find Blake, and find out where we were, but didn't even know where to begin!

Then I heard the laughter. It was feminine, and made me shudder as images from my nightmares popped back into my head, but they disappeared almost instantly when I realized it wasn't Kendra's laughter. It was feminine, yes, and familiar, but I couldn't place it.

Spinning in place, I watched as a shadowed figure ran through the woods, raising an eyebrow at how eerily similar it was to Kendra. The only difference was that the dress she wore, as she passed through patches of light, appeared to be white, and her hair blonde. As she grew closer, she ran right out of the woods and stopped at the line, staring at me with wide blue eyes that seemed so familiar.

"….Hunter?" she questioned softly in a voice I knew I should have known. "Is that you?" Taking a step closer, I saw that her gown seemed to be a much older version, fitting against her form snugly in the waist, and flaring out into a full skirt that flowed to the ground. Her hair was long and a dirty blonde, falling straight to her mid back. Seeing my gaze, she smiled slightly. "You don't remember me, do you?"

I felt my eyes narrow as I took in her appearance. Again, there was just this feeling I _should_ know her, but I was certain I'd never seen her before. "Who are you?" I questioned, purely curiously, although a small part of me was suspicious.

Her smile faded and she nodded. "It's been a long time and you boys were so young, I'm not surprised you don't remember me." She admitted quietly.

"'You boys'?" I repeated dumbly.

Now she giggled. "Yes, you and your friend, Blake." Pausing for a moment, she seemed to think about it. "Surprising, but fitting, that you became adopted brothers."

I quickly stepped back and dropped into a defensive stand. "How'd you know that?!"

"There you are!"

My eyes darted to another figure as he emerged from the woods.

It was a man with light brown hair and green eyes. He was fairly tall, and wore what looked like knight's clothing. Silver armor over brown and crimson leather. He looked like something out of a medieval fairytale. Looking at the woman, he smiled warmly and chuckled a little, not seeming to have noticed me, a silver sword swinging on his hip. "You're always running off on me. You really do love these woods, don't you?"

Her eyes never strayed from me, making me a little uncomfortable. "Honey, we have a visitor." She stated quietly.

He turned to me and seemed completely shocked for a moment, before his eyes turned pained and sad. "Hunter…"

My frown deepened. Now I had the sense that I should have known _his_ voice too! "Who are you people?!" I demanded, taking another step back. I didn't feel threatened. No, completely opposite. I felt safe, and drawn to them. What was going on?!

"Son, we're your parents." The man said softly. "I wasn't expecting this. This must mean that evil presence has grown too strong and too close to the forbidden power." He stated grimly, looking to the woman. "It's the only reason his powers would have been unlocked and he'd be here."

"Wait, _what_?!" Holding a hand up, I was immediately stuck on the very first thing he said, everything else escaping my notice for the moment. "You're not my parents. For one thing, my dad's brunette with brown eyes. And another…" Pausing, I realized that they both _did_ kind of look like me, but it couldn't be. "Another, my parents are dead!"

Their eyes saddened at my words and it was my father who spoke up.

"Hunter, son… You're thinking of your adopted parents. I meant we're your birth parents. And yes, we are dead. It was a complicated spell and took both our remaining dragon energies to perform it."

I raised an eyebrow as I thought about that, shocked at the statement of being my parents and even more shocked at them both being dragons. "Um… Ok?" I offered weakly. Shaking my head, I kept a wary eye on the both of them, wanting to believe they were my parents, but almost afraid.

It had hurt so much to lose them the first time, then I lost my adopted parents. And I never had a chance to really grieve, since I had to be strong for Blake. Seeing these people, hearing their words about being my parents, I felt like my heart was shattered as the pain renewed.

Still, I hid it. Slipping back into my broody self, I folded my arms over my chest and stared them down. "Ok, so where's my brother, Blake? And why am I here?" I challenged.

"Blake's speaking with his parents as we speak, and you're…." Pausing a moment, my father seemed to think about it. "In a type of vision. It's like a dream, but what you are seeing is real. This is really what the dragon cave looked like so long ago, before most of the dragon clan were killed off, and died out. And yes, we really are your parents." The last part was said like he knew I was doubting his words.

"So why are you here? Now?" I asked, feeling bad that it almost came out as bitter as I felt.

"Son, we had to get you and Blake to safety, but our wounds were too bad to survive."

"Wounds?" I questioned, not liking the sound of that.

My mom nodded and smiled sadly. "We were fighting to defend the world from a dark power being released. We lost too much of our strength, however, and fled to get you boys to safety."

"And died." I muttered, feeling the pain throbbing through me.

She nodded and I could see tears in her eyes. "We never wanted to leave you, you must know that. But you know of responsibility, being a Power Ranger. You also know of danger. We didn't have a choice."

I nodded, sighing silently and closing my eyes as I tried to fight off the pain. "I know."

"There is so much to say, but so little time." My father stated, moving to sit on a nearby rock. "Where to begin…"

**End Flashback**

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Yeah I stopped it there, but why repeat all that about the dragons and the power and stuff? Ok, ok… I got lazy? I lost track of what it was I was trying to do? LOL

Oh yeah and I'm sure you'll notice the girl running through the woods and giggling. Um that was more of a coincidence. LOL. I didn't realize until after that it sounded like Kendra.

Hope you liked it.

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"Is it me, or are the crystals not glowing anymore?"

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R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	21. Chapter 21

Starts out Hunter, and goes into the Other Rangers.

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(Hunter's POV continued)

Hearing a quiet and muffled groan, I looked around the dark cavern to find a standing form next to a darkened pond, the crystals having stopped glowing completely, and next to me was another form on the ground.

_And talk we did._ I thought as I crawled over to Blake noticing as everything seemed to lighten and I could see clearly. _They told me about weakness times of being Dragon Clan, as well as other disadvantages. They also explained more about the dark presence, Lothor, of course._

Taking Blake's arm, I helped him as he slowly sat up. "Bro, you ok?" I asked softly, feeling the pain still knawing at my heart. I felt better, seeing my parents and at least being able to say a proper goodbye, but it still hurt.

He nodded and I watched as he frowned. "Is it me, or are the crystals not glowing anymore?"

I looked around carefully, noting it was true. It should have been pitch black in the cave, but I could still see clearly. In fact, as I looked around, I noticed Kendra staring right at us, showing she could see us as clearly as I could see her. And in her eyes was a spark of sadness and knowledge.

I think part of her knew about our dreams, or visions, or whatever.

"So…are we bonded? Was that it?" he continued as I felt him move. Turning, I watched as he slowly looked up in confusion, scanning the cave slowly. "I don't really….feel any different."

"Oh, you will. It just takes a few moments for it to kick in as the power adjusts to your body and bonds fully with it." Kendra informed us grimly.

_Nice to know._ I thought sarcastically as I sighed. "Ok so we're bonded…bonding….whatever. So what's next?"

She nodded a moment before turning and walking across the cavern, then through a wall.

Yeah, that's right. I said _through_ a wall.

"What in the world??" I cried in shock. Frowning, I closed my eyes and massaged my temples. "Let me guess, a hologram? Everything about this place is like medieval, and they have _holograms_?!" I muttered to myself, mostly.

Suddenly, her head popped back through and she looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "It's a magic spell to conceal a hidden path." She deadpanned. "About as 'medieval' as the rest of this place." Then she rolled her eyes a little. "Are you guys coming, or what?"

I could only nod dumbly, transfixed by the image of her head seemingly floating in mid air. She almost reminded me of those animal mounts some people had on their walls, only a human version. I knew the rest of her was on the other side of the wall, but as she disappeared back through, I shuddered and turned to Blake. "_Man_ that was creepy!" I grumbled as I turned and walked towards the wall. Sticking a hand out, I raised an eyebrow myself as it went right through. _Way creepy, but then again, so is everything about this place._

With a final shrug, I thought to myself that we'd come this far, and took a deep breath before stepping through.

(With the others, Normal POV)

"What in the world was that?!" Shane questioned loudly, still staring into the darkened, but clearing sky.

Shaking her head in confusion, Tori remained silent as she looked to the others, then switched her gaze back to the sky, as well. _I don't know, but I didn't like the looks of it._ She thought grimly as her gaze unconsciously turned towards where they were now sure the cave laid.

**Flashback**

"Uh, dudes?" Dustin's uncertain voice caught everyone's attention immediately, and they all spun to see what was up. When they saw him, they saw his gaze was locked solely on the sky.

Or…something in the sky.

Rushing to the mouth of the small cave they'd found, the foursome all looked up and their eyes widened at the sight in front of them.

The sky had been dark with the storm, almost pitch black, like everything else. But now it was filled with lights. Not the lights from millions of stars, like on a clear, _normal_ night, but hundreds of crimson and navy lights shooting through the sky, all in one direction.

The cave.

"Whoa, it looks like a freaky version of a meteor shower, or something." Shane mumbled, an almost awed look on his face.

Biting her lip, Tori stared at the sky, silently admitting he was right. If the whole thing wasn't so freaky, and worrying, she would have thought it was beautiful. "But, what _is_ it?"

"The lights are crimson and navy. They're probably tied into Hunter and Blake." Cam mused out loud.

"Oh and that's _so_ reassuring." She grumbled under her breath, immediately worrying even more about the boys.

The strange light show didn't last long. Almost as quickly as it had come, in fact, it was done. The lights faded and the Rangers waited a few moments, almost as if waiting for them to start back up again, but they didn't.

**End Flashback**

"Ok, so the storm's finally over." Tori piped up as she stepped out of the cave. Slipping in the mud, she sighed and turned to the others. "So, like promised, we can get back to looking for Blake and Hunter."

Nodding a little, Cam stepped out after her, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Tori's right, we'd better get back to looking for them."

There was no sign of hesitation. Shane and Dustin immediately stepped out of the cave and nodded, looks of determination etched firmly into their faces as they exchanged looks with the others before rushing off.

Tori wasn't sure how she felt, not using their ninja streaking abilities when no one was around, and being so worried about Blake, but at the same time, her mind flashed briefly back to when she'd used her powers before, when she'd accidentally made plans with both Shane and Blake.

That hadn't turned out well at all, and she ended up running out on a friend just before they needed her, and not being there for the guy she cared about as he was…well…sucked into an almost empty container of popcorn.

She couldn't help but smile when she remembered him grumbling about the 'artificial flavoring'. The way the clothes were practically glued to him, and his hair being plastered to his forehead, and that adorable little pout had her blushing easily.

Jumping over a log, she focused on her trail, not wanting to accidentally run into anything, or be caught by surprise by one of the lizard folk from around here again, and not too long after, she smiled in relief when the sound of water and the shoreline came into view.

_Hopefully this time we went the right direction._ She thought, rolling her eyes to herself as they stopped at the edge of the water. Looking around, she allowed herself to relax a little when she noticed a dirt path leading to a cave. "Guys!"

They all turned to see the dirt path and exchanged a look again before nodding and running for it. The water was still pretty choppy, and the path easily slippery and muddy, but that was far from their minds as they raced towards it. All they cared about, was that they were close.

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Hope you liked it, and I've noticed a lack of battles. I'm sure others have noticed too, so don't worry, there is at least ONE battle coming up very soon. And I want to thank **PinkAzn** for her ideas on some of the monsters I could use. I realize her reviews talking about them were all the way back in chapters 12-14, but this was the point I was at when I got an idea due to her reviews. Thank you **PinkAzn**.

And I've figured out Hunter and Blake's test/task/mission they are going to have to do, which you will find out…..next week. LOL. Aren't I evil? LOL.

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"Hey, at least they're cool names."

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Please R+R

Thank you.

Tenshi


	22. Introducing Carly

A Note to **PinkAzn**, You mentioned mythology before? Looking up demons online and possibly using minotaurs or other aspects of Greek Mythology, I think? Oh, right, I haven't posted to that part, yet. Basically, it was a thanks before you saw the part your idea helped me with, which was all of Hunter and Blake's mission. It lies heavily on Greek Mythology with aspects of horror movies and such to help with some scenes. You'll see as I go. It's a big thanks because I was very stuck on their task and might have had to stop at that point for a while (aka, no updates) until I got past it.

I think people will like their task. It's a different idea, I think. And I'm trying to make it a little more detailed.

And Special Thanks to a reviewer of Windian Baby, for their idea of Carly Satron. This is the OC they mentioned to me before, and her pairing will be with Cam, eventually. So thank you **Dragons in our Midst**. I didn't remember a lot of her information, so she'll be a little different, I actually just found the review. She doesn't have Glasses, is average height, about 18… And the way they met is different, otherwise, I think I have her somewhat as you meant? Her personality might also be different, only because for one, I don't know what Ficecious (?) means. And two, some of those traights are difficult for me to envision in scenes.

Ok, on to reviews…

**Pinklen98** - It was a thought that hit me last minute, and it seemed like a good idea, so I went with it. Don't worry, I'll always keep up with what the others are doing. Lol. Reunited? Not quite yet. Lol. Still a few things to happen, first. As for Marah and Kapri, not until after they leave, because that entire forest/cave/clearing, it's all only accessible through an underwater cavern. And Lothor and them don't know about it, plus Lothor's looking for that power, so he's distracted. ;)

Actually, there won't be any of Lothor or his goons for several chapters. As in, probably over 10 or 15 chapters. But there WILL be battles!

**PinkAzn** - LOL. It's cool, I confirmed and added you too. Facebook has been acting up a lot recently, so I don't blame you. -.-' Still, it's the thing I know, so I'll stick with it for now. Lol. I'll tell you right now I have a friend who's half Filipino and half Australian, and it totally works for him. Blake does make a good brother though, hm? Oh, I'm not saying…yet. LOL. He just might, I'm not a fan of Hunter not ending up with a girl, personally. Well, in my stories. Very long chapter, yes. Lol. There will be a few like that.

Yes, trust me, I know the power of sugar and caffeine. Lol. Did you pull a ninja trick of walking across the ceiling? Lol.

Well, the reason for the props is very first in this note. Lol. It actually only just hit me that I wasn't up to the mythology part, yet. Oh I know, I'm very evil. Lol! I update two or three chapters a week, then leave off and don't update for a week. Don't worry, before you know it, the next chapter will be up.

**Aroura528** - Some of the dreams will be sad, sorry about that. I mean, they lost two sets of parents each, and both carry things they feel guilty for. I want them to face at least some of their burden and to try and work them a little bit past it. There will very likely be more sad parts, but things will get happy again. Remember, I'm a fan of the Happy Ending! Lol. And it's ok, I'm usually busy during the week, making the weekend sleep in time and writing up a storm on my story time.

Can they transform? Hm… Should I answer that or be evil? Lol. Well, not yet. It's something they have to learn to control before they can. And as for what size, both. If you read Windian Baby, I'm doing a lot of the powers/transformations similarly.

**GinaStar** - Already had Hunter's dream written, lol. It wasn't as detailed, but I knew people would want to see his dream, so I figured… What the heck? Lol. The light show hit me last moment. I was like "what should the others be going through?" Then I had to scroll right up and find the last part I wrote on them just to remember what they were doing before.

**JuseaPeterson** - Lol, will do. I'm glad you like it. I tried to see it in my mind, as if I was watching it on TV or something. Kind of a 'what would Blake do?' situation. Oh trust me… LOTS more of Blake/Hunter and Blake/Tori, even though this is a Hunter as main character fic. O.o lol. Hunter… I knew he'd be more wary. It's part of his defense mechanism. So I tried to play on that. I'm glad it came through well. :)

After updating 2, I still had 11, so I decided to put another one up for the fun of it. Well, like I said, I have a plan for that path, lol. I was thinking "What episode could I bring in and mention?" because I wanted them to use their powers, but also knew they wouldn't for their own benefit. Not unless needed. So I played on that. EVERYONE knows Blake is worried about Tori and vice versa. Lol.

You know where I got the idea of Hunter's father's hair and eyes? Hunter is a dirty blonde, and has blue eyes with little green flecks in them. So I thought mix blue eyes and green eyes and you can get blue eyes with green flecks. And the hair was just, mom was blonde, so father being light brown would darken his hair a little… Yeap, I'm rambling. Lol.

Ok majorly long note (my own fault for long answers, and leaving review replies to after three chapters) lol, so… On to the fic! (And thank you all who reviewed! :) )

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(With the Thunders, Kendra's POV)

I couldn't help giggling silently to myself at Hunter's absolutely freaked look on his face when I'd stuck my head through the opening in the wall. I could only guess what he'd seen, and how freaky it might have seemed, but the look was priceless!

_I probably looked like a discombobulated head, floating in air or something._ I thought with a quiet laugh as I kept walking along the dark path. Then, sighing, I thought about the test they'd face. I hoped it wouldn't be too bad. But then, I really didn't know. There was one person who could tell us, and we were on our way to see them now.

_But will they be there?_ I questioned, more than aware that they liked to take off at every given opportunity.

"So, _now_ will you tell us anything?" Hunter stated with a bit of a groan.

I was aware that they were tired, worried about their friends, very likely thrown off guard by their visions and probably feeling like they were going in a circle. Funny, as much as I knew about this place, I couldn't help feeling like I'd gone through this already, though I know I haven't. "I guess it depends on what you ask." I answered vaguely, knowing it would probably only irritate him more. _There are some things it's just not my place to speak of, though._ I thought as I looked at the curing path that slowly began to go in an upward incline as we continued on. _And some that I just don't know_.

Hearing an irritated groan, I raised an eyebrow and began to climb as our path incline suddenly increased.

"Fine, at least tell us where we're going." He finally stated through gritted teeth.

Making it to the top of the incline, I waited for them and pursed my lips as I thought. "Well, it's kind of a test. Now that you're bonded, you have to learn to adapt to the powers, and this will help with that." I tried to explain.

"What test?" It was Blake's turn to speak up.

"Um…well…that, I don't really know." I admitted quietly. "It varies with everyone."

"What was your test?" he continued.

I shrugged. "I had to make it through a dangerous section of the woods." She stated vaguely. _The entire time feeling like my head was going to explode, and totally lost because all my senses were kicked into high gear._ I didn't add that last part, though.

Turning back to the trail, I ducked through a low opening and continued along in a hunched state. "Honestly, if I could tell you more, I would, but chances are your test will be different than mine. Only Carly can really say."

"Carly?" Blake called from behind me in confusion, before I heard a bit of a thump and a slight, pained hiss.

Looking over my shoulder, I found that Hunter had hit his head on the low ceiling and winced a little as he rubbed it and continued on. _The curse of being tall, I guess._ I thought as I turned and continued on. _Though he wears it well._ Making it though the next opening, I sighed in relief as I was able to stand up straight and looked around.

We were in a medium sized room, the large rock wall behind us, literally made of green crystals, none of which glowed. The opening we had come through was the only opening in the wall, but across from us was a cliff. A ledge that stuck out of the side of the cave, showed of a bright, vast forest, and a winding river. Within the small enclave was a couple of flat boulders, and a small ledge with a small pool of water in it.

"Carly??" Blake repeated a little louder, hinting that I still hadn't answered his question.

To be honest, I hadn't even caught it. "Carly's someone I met here after bonding with my dragon. She gave me my test, or rather…task, to help the bonding along, and we've spoken a few times."

"If I had to guess from the crystals, I'd guess she's a green dragon?" Hunter asked carefully in his usual reserved tone.

Nodding as I turned to face them, I smiled a little. "Emerald Dragon Clan." I stated for clarification. "Or, green dragon."

"So there are different Dragon Clans?" he continued with a raised eyebrow.

I nodded again and moved to sit down. "Yes, but not all got along. Like people, dragons had friends and enemies. Some clans more accepted than others." Looking over my shoulder, I briefly wondered where Carly was, before dismissing it as another of her adventures. This cave was like a nest to her, so she had spells all over, and she'd be able to tell we were waiting, so I knew there was no need to really worry.

So I turned back to the boys, and pursed my lips a moment before gesturing for them to sit on a couple other boulders. "The Ruby and Sapphire Dragon Clans were always close. Their elements were usually opposites, though. As with their colors, Ruby dragons tended to be able to create and control fire. And Sapphire dragons could create and control ice. That also meant that Sapphire dragons were usually close to any dragons or humans that could control water, because of their element's close relation to it."

Hunter shot Blake a look as the darker man's face clearly turned a deep red. I knew that there was someone in his life, who was probably close to the water element. Then it hit me, Tori seemed fairly fond of the water, and was an excellent swimmer, meaning she'd spent lots of time in it.

_Ahh, I see. So that's why they seemed so close._ I thought with slight amusement, thinking back to how he'd come last with her and helper her out of the pond, and how he seemed protective of her.

Well, ok, all the guys were protective of her, but him more so.

"So, I'm a Ruby Dragon Clan. Blake's a Sapphire Dragon Clan, and this Carly's an Emerald Dragon Clan?" Hunter asked with a look that stated he was having a hard time digesting all that information. "Ok, so what are you?"

"I'm a Sky Dragon." I stated while biting back a smirk. I knew that would only serve to confuse him, and as if on cue, his face screwed up into a totally lost expression.

"Huh?"

Laughing slightly, I shook my head. "Your clans were named after gems, because that's the name they carried for generations." I stated as I made a face. "No one really knows _why_. I'm called a Sky Dragon because I heal. That's it, that's all I do. I can fight and protect myself, but I don't have powers that can be used to hurt others. I can only help them."

"So we're named after gems because we can hurt others?" Blake asked cluelessly.

Now it was my turn to be lost. "Uh, well, I don't know. Like I said, it's just the way it's always been." Then I shrugged. "Hey, at least they're cool names."

"Oh yeah, cause we can't save the world with _lame_ names, now can we?" Hunter threw in sarcastically, under his breath.

I couldn't hold back the laughter at that. As much as I think he was serious, or semi-serious, I couldn't help it.

Then he asked something that sobered me immediately.

"Ok, and what about this black dragon?"

_Joy._ I thought sarcastically. _Just what I wanted to be thinking of at the moment. Well, might as well answer him the best I can._ "Well, they were one of the not-so-accepted clans. No one really knows anything about them except that they have great powers that have corrupted them. They think they are like gods, allowed to control life and death." Sighing, I closed my eyes. "I wasn't lying when I said just the release of the power in that crystal could devastate earth alone. Their powers worked with illnesses and demons like you couldn't believe."

"So we just stop Lothor from getting to the crystal." He deadpanned with a raised eyebrow. "And we'll need boosted powers for this?" He rubbed a temple and his eyes seemed to glaze slightly for a moment.

_The dragons spirits must have started the bonding._ I thought as I nodded. "Yes, but it's not that simple. The measures to protect the crystal will protect it from everything, including us."

"'Us'?? Hunter repeated with a look that stated 'I-_must_-have-heard-you-wrong'. "You don't think you're coming with us…."

I raised an eyebrow. "Do you know the way?"

"Our dragons can lead us." Blake put in, already agreeing with his brother.

_What's with this? I'm not helpless! _"I'm Dragon Clan too." I argued with a frown. "And you can't just magically talk to your dragon sides and find out all the answers. That would require a lot of meditation." I saw Hunter about to open his mouth, probably to make some smart-aleck reply, but cut him off. "And time that we don't have." I finished before he could say a word.

"You're still not coming." Hunter stated firmly. Then he looked around and began pacing. "And where's this Carly you keep talking about? You keep saying we don't have the time to waste-"

"We don't." came a new voice. "And as for 'Carly', I'm right here."

Having sensed her presence just before her announcement, I didn't jump the way the boys did when her voice sounded. Turning to the cliff's edge, I frowned when I didn't see her. "Here where?" I asked suspiciously, a little confused as to why she wasn't either floating in front of us dramatically, or standing there all mysterious, like she liked to do. "Carly, what're you doing??"

A rope suddenly dropped down from the overhanging rock ceiling and I sighed with a shake of my head as I understood. She'd been out, like I thought.

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Hope you liked it. Wow, I'm getting up there in chapters, I think I might be going too slow in the story?

Ok I'm sorry to announce, I've been having severe computer issues as of the last week. I don't know how it will affect my updating, but luckily, I have been able to save my story to disk. Lets just hope for the best, shall we? (Sighs)

It's bad when I write this and think I'm going to post it next week, then realize I have 5 other chapters done to post first. O.o LOL!

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"So they're here for their task, then."

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R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	23. The Task

**Disclaimer** - Haven't put one in for a while, so for the heck of it… I don't own a thing.

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(Normal POV)

Climbing down the rope, a girl with short red hair that fell shaggily over her face and to her shoulders, and green eyes, dropped to the ground and stood in front of the trio, holding the rope as she eyed them. "Hey Ken, these the guys?"

She'd known about the last two to be bonded.

Nodding, Kendra sighed. "That's Blake." She stated, pointing to the said man. "And the taller, more irritating slash broody blond, is Hunter."

She got a slight growl from him for that, and a laugh from Carly.

"So they're here for their task, then." She stated rather than asking.

Kendra nodded again.

Pursing her lips, she sighed as she walked further into the cavern, wearing tight black pants, her rock climbing belt with all the tools on it, and her green tank top. "I see. Let me think for a moment, I have to look into the fountain."

"Fountain?" Blake asked cluelessly.

"Like I already stated, Carly's an Emerald Dragon." Kendra explained. "Her power is the power of the mind. That means she can cast spells a lot easier than the rest of us, and she can cast more of them, and stronger ones, too. The fountain is spelled to show her things about others. She's going to use it to find the best task for you."

"It shows her things about others." Hunter repeated.

_Is it me or is he always repeating what I'm saying?_ She thought in a cross between amusement and irritation. "Yes." She stated calmly.

"And that's going to help her find a task for us….how?"

Turning towards the fountain, Kendra thought about it. "The fountain can show her all the deepest, darkest secrets you may hold."

Her back was to the brothers, so she missed the almost panicked looks they exchanged as they both stiffened up. She didn't miss, however, the sense of worry from them both. Still, she remained with her back to them, knowing they wouldn't have been chosen for this mission if they were bad people.

"Using this ability, she can determine your abilities, and what kind of tasks you can accomplish." She finished with a frown as she turned back, wondering what it was they were hiding.

Suddenly, Carly stiffened up and gasped quietly, but Kendra spun to face her immediately, seeing wide eyes as Carly stared into the slightly glowing pool of water on the rock ledge. "What's wrong?!"

Blinking, as if in a trance, Carly turned to Kendra and stared at he a moment with clearly shocked eyes before turning to face Hunter and Blake. Staying quiet, she frowned deeply. "You have no idea…" Sighing, she shook her head. "But it's not my place to say. I've found your task."

_Not her place?_ Kendra wondered in confusion. Part of her didn't know how to feel at this, but knowing that her mission was not to dig into their lives, she remained quiet for the time being, hoping that things would reveal themselves in time. "So, what's their task?"

"Their task is to retrieve the Amethyst Dragon Eye from the Minotaur's Glade."

Still stuck on the whole secret thing, Kendra didn't even notice what was said. "Ok, seems simple-_what­?!_" It finally hit her and she thought her eyes were going to fall out of her head when they shot wide open. It had suddenly hit her just what Carly had said. "Are you insane?? The Amethyst Eye?!"

"Trust me, they can handle this." Carly insisted with a grin.

Hunter and Blake exchanged looks that showed how lost they were with the whole idea.

_Well I wouldn't know, but then, there seems to be a lot I don't know._ She thought in irritation.

Carly turned to the boys and stared at them a moment before smirking. "Nice look." She stated in amusement, clearly eyeing their naked chests. "Get a little warm during the storm, did it?"

Kendra couldn't help the blush when she realized she'd completely missed the fact that both of them were shirtless. _Wow, how'd I not notice?_ She thought in confusion.

Shaking her head, Carly laughed a little when both boys blushed deeply, completely ignoring Hunter's warning glare. "Never mind. But it's a good idea, since where you're going, it's going to be hotter than here." Looking outside, her eyes narrowed as she seemed to be sensing something. "You leave immediately. Most of your abilities will be revealed in time, with the help of meditation. The whole point of this mission is to get used to your heightened senses. That's the main thing right now." Turning back, her face was grim. "You have three days to complete the mission, since time flows differently here. Three days equals one day to your world. Prepare yourselves though, you'll have battles ahead of you."

"They're going alone?" Kendra asked unsurely. "This task is…dangerous. One of us should go with them."

Carly shook her head again. "No, this is for them to do themselves. I've managed to dampen their senses from being heightened, but when they leave this cave, they'll be hit full force." Wincing a little, she shrugged helplessly. "Sorry boys, but prepare yourselves for massive headaches."

"Ok, wait, whoa, stop!" Hunter stated, his glare seeming even stronger. "You tell us we need to find some Eye, and then don't even tell us anything more about it?"

Now Carly laughed openly. "That's because I'm going to send you through a portal to the place where it's kept. You'll be on an island, and you're looking for ancient ruins. Once you find them, look for an opening in the ground and follow it down. It'll lead you to a path, taking you to the Minotaurs' Glade on the other side. There, you'll find the Amethyst Eye."

Biting her lip, Kendra looked unsurely to the boys. She knew it wouldn't be that simple. For one thing, Carly left out the Minotaurs that would be _guarding_ the gem from them. Then, she completely glossed over the patrolling harpies… She wasn't sure if she should be worried, but she did know she didn't like the idea of them going alone. Still, she did have faith that Carly knew what she was doing, so she remained quiet.

"Are you ready?" Carly asked the brothers as she turned towards the cliff and closed her eyes, raising her hands to her chest.

Hunter made a face and turned to Blake who only shrugged. "No, but do we have a choice?"

"No." she replied simply as she began to concentrate.

Only a moment later, and a swirl of mist formed in the middle of the opening in the rock wall, swirling faster and faster like a vortex. It was green in color, and slowly solidified into a wall, where an image of a peaceful, sandy beach was shown.

"Time to go, boys." She stated almost playfully.

Looking about as uncertain as Kendra felt, Hunter stepped forward, followed closely by Blake. The two of them quietly walked towards the portal, and with a moment's hesitation, Hunter stepped through, again, followed by his baby brother.

_Good luck guys, and please hurry._ Kendra thought as she watched them disappear and the portal faded away.

"Don't worry." Carly stated as she turned around and grinned. "Like I said, these guys can handle it."

Rolling her eyes, she sighed and sat on the nearest boulder, determined to wait them out. "You never did tell them how to get back." She stated pointedly.

Now Carly grinned evilly. "And I wonder how long before either of them figures that out." Giggling, she sighed and closed her eyes as she sat across from Kendra. "Don't worry, I spelled the Eye to let me know when they have it."

The Eye used to belong to the Dragon Clans. There was no power to it, it was just a gem. But it had been placed in the care of the Minotaurs a while back. Carly was a direct descendant from one of the Dragon Clan members who gave it to them, so they let her get to it.

_Funny how she keeps telling me not to worry, but I can't help it._ Kendra thought in frustration. _I just know I'd feel better if one of us could have gone with them._

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Hope you like it! Omg! I'm on such a writing roll! I've just been so into this… I've written three chapters in the last two days! LOL If I keep up at this pace, you might get a few surprise double updates. LOL. NO PROMISES…but you never know. LOL

Ok from here on out, I'm going to center the story on the Brothers. So expect less of Kendra, Carly, Tori and the others, or Lothor for a while.

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"Bro! Hunter, answer me!"

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Don't mind the ooooooooooooo divider, LOL. I'm sure you've figured it out, but that's how I separate note from chapter, since the dashes I was using before, didn't work.

R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	24. Day 1

Ok from here on out, there are more crossover aspects of movies and such. Scenes I've seen in magazines or on TV, something from The Descent. And a lot more. Just little things here and there.

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(Hunter's POV)

"Whoa!" Turning around, I watched as Blake appeared beside me with wide eyes, and then looked to the portal, seeing the faint image of Carly and Kendra fading through it as it closed.

Nodding at me, Blake raised an eyebrow. "Man, it felt like I was walking through water!"

I nodded back. Then something hit me and I felt my eyes widen even more as I spun to where the portal once was. "Wait!"

Too late.

The portal had closed, leaving us alone on his weird island, facing god only knows what. With a sigh, I shook my head and groaned, feeling like everything was suddenly kicked into high gear.

"Ok, Hunter, not to gripe, but did you have to yell so loud?" Blake hissed as he rubbed his ears, his hands traveling to his temples, next. "Dude, what a headache!"

_This must've been what Carly meant._ I thought as I closed my eyes a moment before opening them again. "Well, I didn't yell loud, that was my usual voice." I grumbled as I turned to Blake. "And I just thought maybe if I could catch them before the portal closed, I could figure out how we get back when we're done." I finished lightly as I gave him a pointed look.

His eyes shot open wide and then closed as he groaned. "Great, so we could be stuck here."

Shaking my head, I looked around us. "Not likely. I mean, if they need us so bad, they won't leave us stuck here."

Like the portal had shown, we were on a massive beach. The sky was clear, and an almost blinding sun shown down on the white sand. The water was clear, blue and perfectly calm, smelling strongly of salt.

Wrinkling my nose, I tried to escape the overpowering smell, but it was no use, and it only added to my already pounding headache.

As far as we could see, the beach stretched on for miles in front of us and behind us, and it looked like we were the only things alive. Then, on our other side, there lay a massive forest of tropical trees. The odd coconut laid in the sand, and I couldn't help but raise my eyebrows at them.

"If we weren't on a mission, and if my head wasn't killing me, I'd swear we were in Tahiti." I muttered as I kept looking.

Beyond the forest, I could make out a tall mountain, and like Carly had warned us of, it was even hotter here. I could already feel my body beginning to sweat under the glaring sun, and frowned as I turned to Blake.

He was looking around, too. "Ok, so we're on some tropical island. What now?" he asked as his gaze locked on mine.

Noticing how clear and strong my vision was, I looked away and tried to ignore all the senses assaulting me. "We have to find the ruins." I stated shakily, feeling a little dizzy.

"Bro? You ok?" he asked in concern.

Closing my eyes again, I kept them closed tightly as everything seemed to hit me. I could smell the salt from the ocean, and the scent of some flowers, I guessed. Then I smelled motor oil coming from myself, and the same, but mixed with perfume, coming from Blake.

If I wasn't so caught up in everything at that moment, I'd probably have made some comment about the perfume, knowing it was Tori's.

Next, I could hear birds chirping, strange growls, and far away screeches that still hurt my ears. The small waves gently washing against the shore helped to soothe me a little, as well as the sound of the wind in the trees.

"Hunter?"

I could taste the salt from my sweat, from when I licked my lips, and I could feel the heat beating down over every inch of my body. It was burning hot as it touched me, and I could feel my body temperature rising with it.

"Bro! Hunter, answer me!"

The shirt I held felt gritty against my hands, the cotton feeling hard and wet from my sweating in it.

Feeling a hand shake me, and the trembling behind it, my eyes shot open and immediately closed again, when hit with the blinding sun. "Man!" I groaned, feeling like I was suffering from a massive hangover. "What hit me?" Shaking my head, I carefully opened my eyes and forced them to adjust to the sunlight before turning to Blake, still aware at how unusually clear my vision was. "Bro?"

He was looking at me with worried eyes that showed he was in no better condition than me. "You just zoned out. I thought you were gonna pass out or something." He stated in a slightly scolding voice as he tried and failed to glare at me.

With a sigh, I nodded. "It's not easy to deal with this. Like I said, I feel like I'm hung-over or something, only it's way worse."

"Yeah, me too." He admitted reluctantly. "And we're supposed to go gem hunting like this?"

"No time." I repeated with a shake of my head, beginning to really dislike the sound of those words. Taking a step towards the forest, I grimaced at the sound of my foot crunching in the sand, and the feel of heat against my foot as I sank down a little. "It's not going to be easy getting used to this."

"Dude, tell me about it."

Walking towards the forest, I was taken for a moment by the sheer beauty of it. The trees and bushes all seemed such a vibrant green, so full of life. I could see the occasional small bird fluttering to a flower, or through the trees and felt my body relax a little.

Then, a loud screech hit me and I jumped about a foot in the air, feeling every muscle in my body go rigid as I spun in place. _That was way too close to have come from far away._ I thought as I looked around.

There was nothing standing on the sand anywhere near us, and I cocked my head to the side a little as I wondered if maybe all these messed up senses were making me hallucinate.

"Uh, bro?"

_Ok, maybe not. _I thought as I heard the confusion in Blake's voice. Looking to him, I saw him looking up and followed his gaze to find a large bird hovering right behind us. Feeling my eyes narrow, I could only stare at it in shock. "Dude, is that a bird or what?"

"It's kinda 'or what'." Blake stated as he took a step back. "Why do I get the feeling we've stepped into a Greek mythology book?"

Following his lead, I glanced sideways for a moment. "Why do you say that?"

"Hunter, that thing looks like a harpy!" he shouted as he ducked and rolled.

Feeling a strong breeze, I got a sense of panic as I jumped to the side, grabbing on to a tree and swinging behind it. Looking out, I saw the harpy on the other side of where we'd been standing, glaring right at me before it's gaze switched to where Blake was standing behind another tree.

Taking a good look at it, I tried to keep my calm as I realized it kind of reminded me of my nightmare monsters. It looked like it had been dead for a long time, made up of bones and some blood here and there. Strangely, it looked like it had been eaten, if those weird marks were teeth marks, like I thought. It still had it's feathers, fully feathered, big black wings flapped slowly to keep it in place. It's beak was stained with red, my guess, from eating a lot of raw meat. And it's eyes were black, a black that was cold, and bloodthirsty.

It's arms were it's wings, and it's legs were like that of any bird, only each toe ended in a yellowed talon, stained red in places.

Screeching again, it dove at Blake's tree, and my body instinctively tried to jump out from behind my tree to protect him, but I watched as he rolled to the side and hid behind a fallen tree.

"Ok, so we have to fight this thing?" He called as he tried to find a better place to hide.

Feeling relieved that he was alright, I frowned deeply, wincing at the volume of his voice and the stench of decay coming from the harpy. "Are you kidding? Us? Like this? Fighting some harpy zombie?" I called incredulously.

"What else do you expect us to do? Run away with it chasing us and dive-bombing our butts the entire way??" he argued.

Thinking about it, I nodded a little. _True. Good point._ I thought as I pursed my lips. "So what's the plan?"

"I don't know!" He called, ducking under it's rotten, yellowed talons. Coming up a little distance away, he frowned and stepped out into the clearing.

"Blake! What're you doing?!" I yelled as I dashed out from behind my tree and began running towards him.

Closing his eyes, he brought his arms around him, to his chest where he folded them together. Then, his eyes shot open and his one arm lashed out. "Power of thunder!" he called as a navy streak of lightning energy flowed from his hand and hit the harpy dead on.

Shaking my head as I came to a stop a few feet away from him, I could swear I felt his energies build up before he did that, but pushed it aside as just being my imagination. "Dude! Don't scare me like that!" I scolded as I walked over to him.

The harpy fell to the ground, the navy lightning flashing all over it's bodies. It screeched in agony as it writhed, making me and Blake hiss in pain as we covered our ears. Soon enough, it stopped moving, and it's screeches died out.

"I think you killed it." I said as we stood up straight and stared at the still form. Then realizing my words, and it's…..condition, I shrugged. "Again." Looking around, I sighed and grabbed his shoulder, just happy he was alright. "Nice shot." I stated with a grin as I began walking further into the woods.

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Hm, that's the second chapter done today alone. LOL, sorry, random, bored notes.

Yes, I know, very Greek Mythology, LOL. Like I said, the idea for their task came from a reviewer. Thank you **PinkAzn**

And in case anyone was wondering, I'm combining multiple ideas, to keep it being too much like any movie. The hole in the ground came from The Descent. The island idea came from Jason and the Argonaughts (SP?). The Minotaur idea will be similar to the minotaur and their maze. And ideas done through the forest are taken from pictures I've seen of exotic forests. Anything else and I'll let you know as I go. Oh, the harpy zombie was an idea from Scary Movie 2, when the main character is running from the giant skeleton.

Sorry for the gore, that's why it's rated 'M'. I tried to keep it from getting too bad. And oh, look… Bad Hunter, he lost his shirt. O.o What am I writing?? LOL!!

I don't know if I ever had them say 'ass/asses'. I can see Hunter and Blake saying it, but for the sake of crudity in the language, I'm holding off on it for **JuseaPeterson**. I'm trying to stay away from foul language.

Hope you like it.

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"I am always saving your butt!"

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R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	25. A Brotherly Talk

Ok, there's news. As for my computer, it's a virus for sure and the system needs to be reformatted. Luckily, I have the story saved to rewriteable CD. As for the story updates… Well, it's a kind of good news, bad news thing. The bad news is my updates will be a lot shakier.

I always update on Wednesdays, but from starting this week, I will be going to Adult High school to finish getting my grade 12. That means, I'll be up early and out all day, every day of the week. The good news is I will still be updating once a week, so there's no problem there. There's just no guarantee it will be the same day week after week. I am busy as it is, and then with this… O.O I'm going to have to see how it goes, but no matter what, I'm not giving up on this story.

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I could hear him chuckling a little behind me, and plugged my nose at the stench of burnt, rotting flesh and feathers, as I walked past the…corpse. "Man that's gnarly!" I stated in a hiss as I breathed carefully through my mouth and kept going.

"You're telling me!" Blake agreed from my side, having removed his shirt from his waist, and tying it around his face.

Reaching for my shirt, to do the same, I groaned when I realized I'd dropped it during the hide-and-seek game with that harpy. _And that was one of my favorite shirts, too! _

"Let's hope we don't run into any more of those." Blake muttered as he climbed over a fallen log. Then his eyes widened, and he fell over the other side, screaming as he went.

Caught off-guard by his scream, I jumped to the log and leaned over, grabbing his arm and feeling my own eyes widen at the immense hole in the ground. "What in the world could have caused that??" I demanded as I held on to Blake and tried to pull myself up.

I could smell fresh water coming from below, but I couldn't see anything. The drop must have been a long one and ninja or not, I wasn't about to try it. Leaning down with my other hand, I grabbed Blake with both and began hauling him up. "I am always saving your butt!"

"_You_?!" he repeated loudly, his voice echoing in the hole and making us both wince. Mouthing a 'sorry', he shook his head and managed to get a good placement with his feet, pushing himself up as I pulled.

Being reminded of my heightened senses, and still not being able to see the bottom of the hole, I felt my heart plummet with terror, and grew even more determined to get Blake's butt out of there! Pulling as hard as I could, I thought my arms were going to fall off, but with his help, he shot up out of that whole and we both fell backwards.

Falling over the log, I landed on the ground and breathed deeply. "Yes, Blake. Me." I answered cheekily, trying not to laugh as I felt immense relief, knowing he was safe. I know this wasn't the time to be joking around. Honestly, I could sense he was afraid, from the harpy and then almost falling down that hole, possibly to his death. Shuddering at the thought, I just did the first thing I could think of to take his mind off it, which was this.

His eyes shot open wide, and I knew he knew what I was doing, but he grinned at me from the ground beside me. "Really now?" he asked with a chuckle. "Ok, who had to save you from Tori's wrath the other day when you tried to 'borrow' her surfboard without asking?"

"Dude, you know she'd forget anything if you were around!" I called with a laugh, playfully punching his arm as I got up. "Besides, it wasn't like I was gonna break it."

"Sure, bro. Just like that skateboard you borrowed from Kel, that you totaled while trying to show Shane up." he answered as he took my outstretched arm and got up. "What about on…" Pausing, his mouth closed and his eyes filled with pain. "Never mind."

I knew what he was thinking of and felt my heart beat painfully as I looked away, feeling tears come to my eyes. "Bro…" _How am I supposed to make this better? I said the most painful words he could have heard. I can't just take them back._ I thought as I looked to the ground and leaned against a tree. Feeling the overly rough bark digging into my skin, I winced and tried to get more comfortable. "You know I didn't mean it, right? It was Lothor's brainwashing and that goo."

Swatting a bug that was buzzing around his head, he sighed and nodded, sitting on a log. "Yeah I know. Sorry for bringing it up." He muttered quietly, wiping the sweat off his face with the back of one hand.

"No, you were right to." I argued, moving to sit beside him and looking at him. "No matter what, you're my little bro. Nothing's ever going to change that. What I said while under the influence of that stuff-"

"You didn't mean. It wasn't you, bro." Blake cut me off with a stern look. Raising an eyebrow, he shrugged. "Besides, I still had to save your butt."

I knew he was just trying to get my mind off what happened, but it wasn't so easy. "Blake."

"Hunter, no." He said as he got up and gave me a stern look. "What's said is said. It's in the past. It hurt, yeah, I'll admit that, but it wasn't you. I know that, I never blamed you."

_No, maybe not, but I blame myself._ I thought darkly as I diverted my eyes to a nearby fern.

He sighed when I did so. "This is just like with mom and dad. You're trying to be the strong one." He grumbled. "It's not a weakness to cry or mourn, but you seem to think it is. You're blaming yourself."

I rubbed a gritty hand over my eyes, trying to ignore the stinging when the sweat got into them. He was right. When mom and dad didn't come back, when we'd found out they were gone for good, I put it on myself to be the strong one. To give Blake the strength he needed and push my own pain aside. Now, it was like I didn't know how to let go.

"Hunter, look, we have a mission to do, but bro, I don't want you haunting yourself with this." Placing a hand on my shoulder, Blake caught my eye and stared at me. "Like you said, we're always brothers, no matter what."

Nodding a little, I closed my eyes and took a moment to collect my thoughts before I got up and opened them slowly. "So what now? We don't even know where to go." I still felt heavy from the pain, but lighter from having had this talk, like a burden had been released.

Looking to the log, Blake let his arm fall to his side. "Well obviously, it's not that way."

"Well, Carly did mention an opening in the ground."

"_In_ the ruins." He stated pointedly. "And we haven't found those yet, so we better keep looking."

"Like I said, where do we start?" I repeated, looking around and gesturing to the forest all around us.

Looking around, he nodded a moment. "Ok, so going back…" He stated, pointing to where the distant corpse of the harpy was laying. "would take us back to the beach. And going forward…" He pointed to the log where the hole was. "Won't work unless we can fly. So that leaves left and right."

"We're not splitting up." I stated lowly with a glare at him.

"I didn't say that, bro." Blake raised an eyebrow at me. "And I wouldn't suggest it, either. Who knows what else is on this island?"

_Besides Minotaurs and probably more harpies._ I thought. "Ok so…why don't we just use our ninja streaking?" I suggested. "We're on a time limit, Carly knows about our abilities, I'm sure…"

"I dunno bro, but we could give it a try." He answered with a nod.

We took a moment to pick a direction and then with a shrug, used our ninja streaking to quickly search for the ruins.

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Yeah I noticed Hunter's POV is going on for a long distance. Don't worry, it'll change soon. I always wanted to go into that discussion about Return of Thunder at Vertigo (Portico?) Island, but I'm not them, so I hope I did ok.

Hope you liked it.

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"I guess it's safe to say that didn't work."

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R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	26. Day 1, Second Encounter

Lol, I'm out of it. It hit me, why keep telling you who each chapter's going to be about, if the very first thing in the chapter, is the person's POV? Lol.

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(Blake's POV)

It didn't really work out the way we would've liked.

Stopping a few moments later, some distance into the woods, I collapsed to my knees in agony and had my hands clapped over my ears. "Dude!" I called, feeling like my head was pounding even worse than before. "Where'd that come from??"

Hunter stumbled to a stop beside me and shook his head with a wince. "Well, guess the whole wind blowing by your ears thing is bad with newly heightened senses. So ninja streaking's out for now." He muttered as he rubbed his ears. "I guess it's safe to say that didn't work."

Think of running real fast, how the wind blows past your face. You can feel it, and with strong winds, you can hear it. Then increase that sound about ten times, and the pressure, and you'll have ninja streaking. It took a lot to get used to as a ninja, but with our senses that much more sensitive, it literally hurt us to run that fast.

Getting up slowly, I sighed and frowned at the headache I had, looking around. We were standing at the edge of a fast-moving river. There were boulders sticking up out of it that we could cross, and surprisingly, a few green crystals on those rocks. "Uh, Hunter?" Pointing to the crystals, I raised an eyebrow at him. "I think we're going the right way."

He raised an eyebrow back, but made a gesture to head towards the rocks and we began walking.

It wasn't easy getting used to the new senses. It was like I was on overload. I could now understand why Kendra let us get separated from the others, and what she meant. I felt like my body was high-strung, ready for an attack from anywhere.

Making it to the river's edge, I sighed as I looked around. "We'll have to climb across." _And that water looks fast._ Following the way the water flowed with my eyes, I saw a massive waterfall and felt my eyes widen. _Great._ "So, I'll go first, I guess?"

"No, I will." He argued with that 'don't bother arguing about it' tone, as he climbed out on the first boulder. Slipping a little, he crouched down and seemed to scan the water before leaping out to another one.

I watched silently in worry as he slowly leapt out a few more, until he was close to halfway across the river, then climbed up on the first boulder again. I slipped a little too, and felt my body go rigid when I realized just how slippery the rocks were. Glancing briefly at the waterfall, I felt my hand ghost over one of the crystals and looked down at it. _We so can't slip now._ I thought as I took a deep breath and jumped out to the first boulder.

Luckily, I watched as Hunter glanced back at me before carefully making his way a few boulders more.

I climbed over part of the one I was on before leaping to the next one and immediately jumping to the one after. _Ok, so this isn't so bad._ I saw one with a high peak coming and knew I'd have to jump, catch that peak and climb it. _Or so I thought._

Slipping a little again, I braced myself as Hunter climbed up it with little trouble and turned to wait for me at the top. Holding my breath, I jumped as far as I could, and reached for the ledge, hoping against hope that I'd make it.

But I didn't.

I felt my hand hit the rock wall, just inches from the ledge, and my body began to fall. Then, a hand grabbed mine and began pulling up. _Whoa, talk about déjà vu._ Looking up, I gave Hunter a look when I saw him giving a cocky, albeit worried grin. "Don't you dare say a word." I warned as he pulled me up a little, and I managed to grab on to the ledge.

Once I managed to haul myself over, I glared at him, just waiting for him to say what I knew was on his mind.

"Like I said, _always_ saving your butt!" he laughed out as he sat on part of the large boulder.

Shaking my head, I opened my mouth to say something when I saw something moving behind him. Closing my mouth again, I stared at it and felt my eyes widen as my vision got extremely clear. It was like someone hit the zoom button on my eyes. I could see tons of fairly big spiders running out of a hole behind him, only these things were yellow in color, and had these odd legs that seemed to stick up higher than most spiders.

Looking to the hole they were coming out of, I saw some with red spots on their backs, and in the hole were what looked like bones. I couldn't make it out clearly. "Um, Hunter, you might want to move." I stated as my throat dried up.

Those spiders were scurrying right _at_ my bro!

"As in now!" I called, grabbing his arm and pulling sharply as I jumped to the next boulder.

"Whoa!" he called as he shakily followed me. "Dude, Blake! What was that about?!"

Looking back at the boulder, I pointed to the hundreds, if not thousands of spiders coating the rocks he'd been sitting on. "Could just be me, but those didn't look friendly." I said with a grimace.

He shuddered with a face of his own and nodded a little. "You know, I agree."

"And you were saying about always saving my butt." I threw at him before turning and jumping to a smaller boulder, continuing my way to the other side of the river. Once there, I turned and watched as Hunter followed me, slipping once, and giving me a playful glare when got to the other side.

Brushing my hands off on the shirt I had taken off earlier and tied around my waist again, I vaguely noticed that even by the water, the air didn't lighten at all. Looking to the forest, I knew we had a long ways ahead of us. Who knew just how long, so with a final look at Hunter to make sure he was alright, I began walking.

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Finally got a POV change in there, huh? Ok, spiders aren't scary to a lot of people, but I'm arachnophobic, so…..

Also, just a notice I'm going to try to make the chapters a little longer. And if you ever find where the quote should be, it's empty… It's because the chapter was prepared ahead of time and I created it before I wrote any farther and I didn't have a quote to put down.

Hope you liked it.

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"Dude, you just _had_ to fall in!"

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R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	27. A Little Help, Please

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(With the others, Tori's POV)

"What _is_ this thing?!" I called, ducking under what seemed like a tentacle as I jumped to the side and rolled.

Dustin was caught in another one, and fighting to get free with a morphed Shane trying to shoot it without hitting him. "Dude, you just _had_ to fall in!" he called in exasperation as he shook his head and lowered his arms. "I can't get a clean shot!"

"Tori, can't you use your powers?!" Dustin called breathlessly as he winced.

"Not while-whoa!" I jumped to the side again, narrowly missing colliding with a morphed Cam, who was trying to hold more of the tentacles off. "Not while dodging these attacks!"

**Flashback**

We'd been running across the path when Dustin slipped and fell in. No big deal, we thought. He could just swim out, the water wasn't _that_ bad. He began to swim, and we stopped to wait for him. Just as he reached the edge of the path, he was sucked under.

"Dustin!" Shane called as I gasped in shock. "Dude!" He made to jump in when Cam grabbed his arm and held him back.

"You could get sucked under, too!" he scolded the air ninja.

"That's our friend down there!" Shane argued angrily as he fight to get free.

"Guys, stop! I'll see if I can get him!" Before either of them could stop me, I made to jump into the water. But that's when the giant snake-like creature erupted out of it with Dustin in one of it's weird black tentacles. "Dustin!"

He coughed a little and looked around before his eyes settled on the monster. "Uh, hi?" he offered weakly as he tried to get free. "Thanks for the, uh, help, dude, but I can walk." He tried. When that didn't work, he began struggling more. "Dudette?"

"Hang on Dustin! We'll get you down!" Cam called as he and Shane exchanged a look.

Taking up their stances, they morphed.

"Ninja Storm! Ranger form! Ha!" Shane called, morphing into the Red Ranger.

"Samurai Storm! Ranger form! Ha!" Cam called right behind him, morphing into the Green Samurai Ranger.

Closing my eyes, I tried to focus on the water and see if I could give the guys a hand while they fought this thing off. I could feel the energy of the water, but at the same time, it was turbulent and I couldn't hold on to it. "No! Come on!" I muttered harshly as I struggled to gain control over it, ignoring it as the tingling hit me from that weird energy.

"Tori, look out!"

My eyes shot open as a tentacle swung at me and I ducked under it and jumped to the side.

**End Flashback**

Closing my eyes, I tried again to control the waters, but the tingling grew even more powerful, to a painful point. "I can't get control!" I yelled to the others.

Dustin was coughing as the tentacle squeezed him, still trying to get free, but the more he squirmed, the more it tightened on him.

"Cam, Shane! We have to hurry!" I called as I saw Dustin's struggles getting weaker and weaker. _Hang on Dustin…_

Jumping on to one of the tentacles, Cam knelt down and held on to it as it swung around, almost riding it as it flew threw the air. After catching his balance, he began to climb along it, quickly, to the main body, where he clung to a slimy looking scale and looked around. Pulling out his samurai sword, he jumped to the tentacle holding dust and swung as he fell, managing to sever the tentacle from the body, and freeing Dustin.

Who promptly fell and landed in the water.

Luckily, because the tentacle was severed, it could no longer tighten on him and in fact, loosened enough for him to get free. As he surfaced gasping for air, I knelt by the edge of the path. "Over here!" I called as I stretched out an arm to pull him to safety.

He swam towards me while panting and grabbed my hand, hauling himself to the shore. "Dude, that was _not_ fun!" he groaned as he climbed up on the path and held his stomach.

Wincing as Shane got hit and knocked a few feet away, I turned to him with a raised eyebrow and pointed. "Yeah? Neither is that. Come on, let's help them." Taking my position beside him, we morphed.

"Ninja Storm! Ranger Form! HA!"

(With Kendra and Carly, Carly's POV)

Frowning deeply, I watched as Kendra's eyes narrowed and her head turned towards the path to the main cavern. "Do you sense that?" she asked in confusion.

"No, I didn't. I was too busy staring blankly at the whole in the wall." I muttered sarcastically with a raised eyebrow. "Energy bursts, but they're not like ours. It's like an elemental energy is building up and then seems to burst forth in a confined area."

"And it's not fading." She added with a mild glare at me.

I knew she was still unsettled about sending the brothers on that mission, but it really wasn't my place to tell her that they were Power Ranger. I mean, that would make the whole _secret identity_ thing moot point. "So what do you think it is?" I asked, trying to keep my mind off the shocking secret I'd found out thanks to my spell.

Giving me a look, she shrugged. "What am I, psychic?" With a heavy sigh, she slowly got up and stretched. "Why not use the fountain to check it out?"

"Because it's less than a 20 minute walk from here." I deadpanned as I got up as well. "Didn't you say he had friends here?"

She nodded with a thoughtful look. "Yeah, and come to mention it, I remember the girl in their group, Tori, she seemed unusual."

_Unusual? Maybe another Ranger? _I thought curiously. "Unusual how?"

There was another burst of elemental energy. The first one had been air, and one that seemed eerily familiar to my power of mind. This one was water and earth.

Her frown deepened, and her head turned to the path again. "That's weird, that second burst reminded me of when I was coming here with Tori. I was showing her the path because she was the strongest swimmer in the group, and a few times I remember sensing energy bursts from her while she was behind me."

_Energy bursts…_ "We'd better check it out." I suggested with a groan as I stood up. "Great, and I was just getting comfy, too."

Heading back down the path and through the spelled wall, we entered the cavern, now pitch black without the glow that came from the crystals, and made our way through it. It was odd to me, to enter this chamber and not see the red and blue crystals glowing, or the misty forms of the dragon.

Taking the other path to the entrance of the cave, I felt my eyes widen at the sight in front of me.

Four morphed Rangers were fighting one of the corrupted River Dragons.

Hearing Kendra gasp at the sight, I knew she was just as shocked as me, and that only served to confirm the fact that she didn't know about Hunter and Blake. _If my guess is right, these are their friends._ I thought as I stepped forward. "Well, things certainly don't seem even here." I called, getting their attention, as well as that of the dragon. Looking to it, I sighed. "And you, you always have to stir up trouble."

"Why don't we even the odds a little?" Kendra asked with a confused look at the four Rangers.

With a nod, I charged forward, calling upon my wings and leaping into the air. "I'll keep it distracted!" I called as I circled it's head, dodging and ducking it's tentacles.

She nodded and raced to the Yellow Ranger, who'd been favoring his chest the entire time we'd been there. "And I can heal those who are injured." Placing her hands over the seemingly wounded area, she closed her eyes a moment and they glowed faintly.

After a moment, she pulled away and the Yellow Ranger's hands shot to the area before he turned to the others. "Dude, the pain's gone!" he called in disbelief.

Next, she went to the Red Ranger, who seemed to be favoring his right arm, and repeated the process, much to his surprise.

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See, **Jusea**? Told you I had a plan for that path, lol.

Hope you liked it

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"We're gonna have to rest soon."

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R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	28. Thoughts and Time to Rest

Ok, this could get tiring. I only barely remembered I needed to post this week. Lucky for the extra chapters I had done.

For those who were wondering, school is going well. Tiring and aching with all the walking I do for localized field trips (practically daily, in photography class), but very good. I am already halfway into my English course and it is only the beginning of the session. The second half will go slower, but fairly fast considering all the actually class time I have to work on it all. Computer's still crappy, but hopefully this coming weekend I will get it fixed.

LOL I had the two chapters read to post, and almost forgot to reply to the reviews. If you ever see a chapter with space at the top, I made a habit to do that, so I had room to write down review replies, LOL.

**Pinklen98** - Tori's there, she's just not with them yet. Don't worry, they will be reunited. And yes, there should definitely be fluffiness. LOL. Huh? Fall in a puddle of poo? Who? What? Where? Why wasn't there with my camera?? LOL. No, well, the talking to the dragons may be possible in deep trances, but having dragons come out of them, no. It's that they actually turn into the dragons. Spiders… (Shudders in horror) Narsty little 8 legged monsters that move WAY too flexibly and fast for my likings! (Shudders again)

**GinaStar** - Lots of Hunter, this is a Hunter fic, after all. LOL And he definitely lost his shirt, so you get to see even MORE of him! :D!! LOL!!

**JuseaPeterson** - We can't have a proper bonding session with the guys wearing shirts! ………O.o…. Please pretend you didn't just hear that from me. That was just…came out wrong…sorry -.-' (falls over laughing hysterically) But yeah, I loved writing it and delving into the depths of their bond. It's one of my favorites just for that alone. It was fun to write, and it touched a subject I really wanted to write about, Vertigo Island (we'll just go with 'Vertigo' for now). LOL! You know, I actually wrote the first scene of Blake falling, and as I wrote the second, I was like 'déjà vu'. O.o and realized I was repeating myself, so in order to make it go a little differently, I thought quickly as to what to do and decided to change it a little by having Blake save Hunter. The 'tone' thing seemed natural, after Blake had nearly fallen down that hole in the ground, Hunter was still shaken and didn't want to take a chance.

**PinkAzn** - Actually, the school is really simple. They have more allowance for getting up and taking breaks whenever you want to, and the courses are fairly simple. Ok, so getting up at 5-6am every day is a bugger, but I can deal with it. But thanks :) LOL, glad you loved the shirtless Hunter. I guess the only way to top that is have him pantsless too, LOL! Oh, wait… Did that. LOL!

IN A DIFFERENT FICTION, I MEAN! LOL!

Anyways, a LOT of thinking of a certain Blue Ranger in this chapter, as well as just talking between the brothers. Hope you enjoy.

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(Hunter and Blake, Normal POV)

"What do you think the others are up to?" Blake asked idly, his thoughts on Tori in particular. Some part of him wondered if she was upset he hadn't come looking for her yet. Then, another part knew she'd understand. "Do you think they're safe?"

"Didn't Kendra say they'd be fine if they stayed in the woods?" Hunter returned distractedly as they walked through a seemingly endless meadow.

It was getting later, and thus, getting darker, but with their newly enhanced sight, they could still see quite clearly. While both of them were getting tired, they had no way of telling just how much of the island they covered, or if they were anywhere near finding those ruins. The main thing was that they were both fully aware of the time limit and weren't willing to rest just yet.

"Yeah, but since when did you trust anything Kendra said?" Blake challenged. "And who's to say they'll stay in the woods?"

Holding up his wrist, Hunter sighed and turned to his little bro, rubbing his eyes with his hands. "First, so far, she hasn't given us any reason to doubt her, and since we can't exactly check on them ourselves, we'll just have to take her word for it."

They'd tried their morphers to contact the others, but all they'd gotten was heavy static. They had no way of even contacting the others to see if they were ok, or to let them know they were fine.

"Second, they're trained Ninjas who can control elements." He deadpanned with a look. "Even if they do get into trouble, I'm sure they'll be fine." Seeing that Blake seemed less than reassured, Hunter sighed, knowing it wasn't _the others_ that he was so worried about. "Dude, trust me, she'll be fine." He insisted firmly.

Blake's head shot in Hunter's direction, and he opened his mouth to say something, but seeing the look he was getting, he sighed and shook his head before lowering. "I know. I have faith in her, it's just hard. I can't help but worry about her." He admitted quietly.

Nodding a little, Hunter looked to the massive field ahead of them. "I'm worried about them, too." He admitted reluctantly. "But since we can't contact them or ninja streak, we just have to trust that they're alright." Pursing his lips, he glanced sideways at his bro. "What else can we do?"

"I know." Frowning a little, Blake tried to ignore the buzzing headache he had as he trudged after Hunter. "Let's just get this mission over with."

Rubbing his own temples, Hunter nodded silently as he topped the slowly inclining hill they'd been climbing. Looking down over the other side, his expression changed to an incredulous one. "Oh man!" he groaned in irritation. "You've _got_ to be kidding me!"

The immense field they were crossing kept going for miles. There was no sign of an end to it, and both brothers felt slightly discouraged that they didn't even know if they were going in the right direction anymore. Ever since the river, they hadn't seen many boulders, and none of the green crystals.

On one side of the field they crossed through, there was a massive drop-off that they were both certain was a cliff with a very steep drop. Beyond that was a mountain that if you really looked at it, seemed like it rose out of a hole in the ground. That cliff circled around it as far as the eye could see. It was also so huge that it made sense this was probably the mountain they'd seen from the beach.

Their other side was nothing more than massive forest.

"Dude, so we have a long way to go." Blake muttered as he looked around. _Why do I have a bad feeling about this_? He mentally questioned himself. It was almost like he just somehow knew something was going to go wrong, or something bad was about to happen, thus, why he was so concerned about the others.

Hunter closed his eyes and scrubbed his face with his hands as he bit back another groan. Taking a deep breath and holding it for a second, he cocked his head to the side and began walking.

Walking in silence for a while, the minds of the Bradleys whirled on a dozen different topics and emotions.

Hunter felt anger and irritation, as well as worry and confusion. Part of him wanted to trust Kendra and Carly, but after everything he and Blake had been through, it just wasn't that simple. He knew that so far, they'd done nothing really wrong. _Well, Kendra did push me off a cliff._ He thought briefly, a little peeved at himself for not having his guard up at that moment. _But she also knew I'd land in water and not be hurt._

The more he thought about it, the more confused he felt. He'd always been the broody one that didn't open up to people. He knew it, and a large part of him wasn't really bothered by that. It was always letting people in that got to him. He'd lost so many people, he was afraid to lose anyone else he cared for.

Blake probably had a good idea of some of the thoughts in Hunter's head. For one, he could see it in his expressions, and another, it was strangely like he could hear Hunter's voice rambling on in his head about many different things.

For his own part, he struggled to push it aside and focus on his own problems. He felt more worry and confusion, not knowing if the woman he cared for, or his friends were safe. And not really knowing what to make of this mission, and the lack of instructions didn't really help. His head was a giant ball of hot pain, from the overload of senses, and the heated hair and constant bugs didn't help his mood much.

His thoughts kept bouncing around as well. Starting with Tori, and how he felt for her… How he always felt his heart flutter when she looked at him, or how everything faded away when she smiled at him, to the strength and loyalty she held in her, and her grace and talents in controlling the water element. Everything about her was beautiful to him, but he felt so nervous.

_Does she feel the same?_ He wondered for the thousandth time since they met. _How can I tell her? What is she doesn't feel the same?_ Then his thoughts betrayed the one biggest problem, to him. _I betrayed her. It was a mistake, and I never meant to hurt her, but how can I explain? She keeps saying she doesn't blame me, but how can she not? I used her and betrayed her and her friends!_ Feeling his frustration grow, Blake closed his eyes tightly and forced the trail of thoughts aside, allowing a new topic to run rampant in his mind, but ever alert at the remaining pain and worry.

The next thought to cross his mind was about Carly and Kendra. Just who were these strange girls? They seemed to be allies, but how did any of them know that for sure? _We know so little about Kendra, and nothing at all about Carly._ The fact that she hadn't mentioned them being ninjas and Power Rangers to Kendra earned her immediate trust points, but not a lot of them.

"Hunter, what do you think about Kendra?" She'd been more involved than Carly so far, so it was easier to form an opinion about her. The fact that she pushed his big bro off a cliff was enough to make him wary of her, but to be fair, she hadn't hurt him. She hadn't done anything to show she couldn't be trusted.

Looking at his bro, Hunter raised an eyebrow. "Huh?" he asked cluelessly, not having expected that question at all. "Why are you asking? And where'd that come from?"

"I dunno. I just don't know if what to think of her." He explained weakly. _And how am I supposed to mention I have a feeling there's a lot more to all this than meets the eye?_

"Well, she pushed me off a cliff." Hunter stated with a not-too-happy look as he repeated his earlier thoughts. "But…" Sighing, he closed his eyes. "Man, I don't know. She hasn't really given us any reason not to trust her, I just don't know her well enough to say."

Nodding, Blake silently agreed, and they continued on their way silently for a bit.

After a few moments of silence, Hunter looked at Blake. "We're gonna have to rest soon." He muttered pointedly as he glanced around the dark landscape.

The sun was down, it had gone down hours ago. Now they walked on still seeing surprisingly well due to their dragon senses. Still, it was getting so dark now, that even their enhanced sight wasn't helping.

"Yeah, but where? We're in the middle of a giant field and I don't think sleeping out in the open is a good idea." Thinking about everything they'd been through, he almost wanted to laugh. _Actually, I don't think sleeping at all is a good idea in this place. Who knows what will crawl out of the tiniest crack and attack us?_ He thought as he recalled the spiders and bit back a shudder. "And one of us should stand guard for a couple hours, so that if we get anymore unexpected creepy-crawly visitors, they won't catch us completely off guard."

Taking a moment, Hunter nodded in agreement. "We'll take 2 hour shifts until morning." Looking around, he scanned the landscape around them as carefully as he could. "We don't really need a cave, just some sort of shelter…" Seeing a large, exotic tree standing over some large, fairly flat boulders, he pointed. "There. See how the branches cover the boulder like a tent?"

They were so thick and dense and no air-born creatures should be able to see them there, and it would also protect them if another storm hit.

Luckily, it was slightly cooler now that the sun was down. Even though it was still very humid, it wouldn't be too uncomfortably so.

Making their way to the rock, they argued for a bit on who'd take the first watch, but Hunter being the bigger, more stubborn brother, managed to get Blake to agree, and sat on the edge of the rock to watch the field in front of them, as Blake removed his shirt from his waist, put it back on, and laid down on the fairly cool rock.

In this place, going through the things they were going through, neither brother expected sleep or relaxation to come easily to them. Still, within the first half our, Blake was out cold, and Hunter was comfortable, carefully watching over his baby bro.

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Hope you like it. Significantly more boring than other chapters, but I was at a loss at what to do at this point. I don't want them to find the ruins so quickly and easily, and they do have a three day limit. Plus, I didn't want to do battles every 15 minutes. Lol.

I do realize the lack of information on Carly and Kendra, some of that will be filled in with time, but seeing as how they're separated from the others, I need to do one with one of the dragon girls talking about their past.

And I keep going on about that pushing Hunter off a cliff, because after how scary it was to both of them, I don't want them to just push it aside so quickly.

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"They used to be allies, full dragons who guarded the waters from dark forces."

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R+R please.

Thank you

Tenshi


	29. ReunitedKind of

**Legend** -

_**Telepathic communication**_

_Thought._

Well hopefully the action is picking up more. Next chapter is going to be…..pretty long, from Blake's POV.

I finally got my computer reformatted, unfortunately, it's running slower now, and I don't have a lot of the programs I had before. This means that I also no longer have a spell check. As of chapter 44, I won't have my words underlined or automatically corrected anymore, so sorry if you find spelling errors.

**Pinklen98** - LOL, a lot of the powers and transformations are the same as in Windian Baby.

**BlueDolphinz** - Thank you, I'm glad you liked it. Ah, yes, I also have them 'muttering', 'grumbling' and 'saying' a lot. I am actually working on that now, but you won't see a difference until about chapter 40 or so, because I was already at that point when I posted the last chapters. LOL. Find the Eye, you mean? Who said they'd find it? Or...maybe they will. LOL

**JuseaPeterson** - Well, I was going to have her freak about them being Rangers, but didn't want her to seem like an over-enthusiastic school girl or something, LOL. I wanted to try and open with a different view, so that's why I did the flashback. Well, you're going to see Carly's POV, Kendra's, Tori's, Hunter's and Blake's POV, mostly, with the occasional POV from someone else.

Too late, LOL! My mind went into the gutter and got stuck there when I mentioned them bonding shirtless and the other ideas crossed my mind. LOL! I loved all the talks and bonding. No physical fights going on, but lots of emotional action and thoughts. Trying to convey their feelings and thoughts can be difficult at times. I just finished a chapter where Kendra and Hunter got into an argument over something she said to him during a battle, that helped save his life.

...But that's not until chapter 42-43. LOL.

**GinaStar** - Well I'm glad I'm not driving people up the wall with mentioning it. It's just one of those things you don't let go of. Heck, I can see Hunter bringing it up (jokingly) in years to come.

**PinkAzn** - Nope, you're not joking. You want to see Hunter streaking around (and not ninja streaking at that), just as much as the rest of us. (sees Hunter streak by (and not the ninja way)) Well...there you go? LOL! Chapter 27 was better because there was more action. There was actually a battle, for that matter. It makes sense. LOL.

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(With the others, Kendra's POV)

_Well that…could have gone better_. I thought with a wince. Looking around, I nodded and bit back another wince as I clutched at my side. _Oh definitely, a lot better._

Even with the help of Carly and myself, that former River Dragon had been hard to beat. And none of us got away unscathed. Carly was supporting a pretty bashed up arm that was luckily not broken. I think I had a few bruised ribs, courtesy of failing to notice a tentacle coming at me. The Blue Ranger was limping a little, the Yellow Ranger rubbed continuously at his back. The Red Ranger seemed a little dazed, and the Green Ranger was holding his stomach.

I healed what I could, or it would have been worse, but by this time my healing energies were gone and I was feeling ready to pass out at any moment.

"So, wanna tell us what that thing was?" The Blue Ranger asked as lightly as she could.

I was still confused to how they got here. I knew that Blake and Hunter's friends were still out there somewhere, but now I was becoming suspicious. I mean, first that strange energy burst from Tori when I brought her through the underwater cavern. Then a similar burst that appears to have come from the Power Rangers… Their voices sounded very similar, and their scents were the same.

"That was a corrupted River Dragon." Carly stated with a sigh as we slowly made our way back through the path to the main cavern. "They used to be allies, full dragons who guarded the waters from dark forces."

The more I thought about it, the more obvious it seemed, but I didn't want to jump to conclusions.

"Corrupted, how?" the Green Ranger cut in.

Now it was my turn to add in my own two cents. "The forbidden power used to lie in an underwater cave, where we thought it would be safe. But we underestimated it's power, and it's darkness leaked out to corrupt the very dragons who helped to guard it. Eventually, a number of the Elders got together and used the last of their energies to move it to a safe location."

"Or so we thought." Carly added. "It was taken to an island where no one lived. Only minor animals, that we thought would be harmless. But in addition to corrupting a lot of them, it also mutated them. Large birds of prey were infected and turned into bloodthirsty harpies. Indigenous insects were turned into flesh eaters. Some trees were infected and brought to a new stage of life, mutated with tentacles and also thirsting for blood." Sighing, she shook her head. "For the most part, there was no major danger. No one ever knew of the island or went there. We thought it would be safe there, even with it's dark energies leaking out."

"None of your people were infected?" he continued questioning, as we reached the main chamber.

Talking a moment to sit down and relax, Carly exchanged a look with me before shrugging. "Honestly, that was all a long time ago. After the removal of the crystal, and the war to protect it from the last attack, most of us died out. Our energies were drained, or we were infected with poisons we couldn't get out of our systems."

"Basically, there are very few of us left." I added. "The only ones I know of for sure are Blake, Hunter, myself and Carly." Thinking about it, I frowned. "I don't know much about all this. This all happened long before I bonded with my dragon spirit. I think a few were infected and corrupted, but not very many. Mostly it was plants, animals, and a few of the pure dragons."

"Sorry, we're getting ahead of ourselves. I didn't even tell you my name yet." Carly muttered with a thoughtful look. "I'm Carly Satron. I was born Dragon Clan, here. I'm of the Emerald Dragons with the power of Mind."

_Do I need to introduce myself?_ I still wasn't sure what to make of this whole thing, although I was getting fairly certain. _Guess I might as well go with the flow._ "I'm Kendra Morgan, bonded with my dragon spirit around a year ago. I'm a Sky Dragon Clan with the power of Light, or healing."

Exchanging a glance they seemed to hesitate a moment before the Green Ranger stood up and sighed. "We might as well, guys." He reluctantly admitted.

Turning to us as the others stood, they all raised their arms, cross at the wrist, and called "Ninja Form!" as their suits flashed brightly and disappeared.

Feeling my eyes widen, part of me knew I shouldn't be surprised. In front of me, all dressed in leather, were Hunter and Blake's friends. _Wait…_ My eyes slowly narrowed as I turned to look at Carly. Remembering her assurance of their ability to handle this very dangerous mission, and the fact that I knew there was more to them than met the eye, it was fairly safe to say, I had an idea of what it was they were hiding.

"Kendra already kind of knows us." Shane stated with a wince as he sat down. "But Carly, when did you enter the picture?"

She raised an eyebrow and folded her arms over her chest. "Gee, why do I get the feeling I'm unwanted?" she asked lightly, acting offended, though I could sense she was just playing around.

Cam stared at her through narrowed, clearly suspicious eyes. Tori seemed unsure what to make of this, but nudged Shane sharply in the side, giving him a slightly apologetic look when he gave a pained hiss. Dustin seemed intrigued but lost by all this.

Shane's eyes immediately widened when he realized he may have come off as rude. "Uh, no offence." He quickly stated with an apologetic look of his own.

"Relax." Carly stated before giggling a little. "I was just joking with you. I came in when it was time to give your friends their task."

Now all their expressions turned confused and wary.

"Our friends?" Cam repeated cautiously. "Who's that?"

I wanted to say something, but knew he was testing what she knew. She looked at me for a moment, probably trying to judge what I knew and what to say, before turning back to them.

"The last two members of your team, Blake and Hunter."

Tori's eyes widened and filled with concern at the mention of their names. "Where are they?"

"Yeah, dude, shouldn't they be here?" Dustin finally spoke up. "I mean, like, with the whole dragon thing, and I think this is the place, right? Shouldn't they be here? Or near here or something?"

Carly laughed again at his rambling and I couldn't help but giggle a little. "They were. They bonded already, and I took them to see Carly, who sent them on a mission of sorts to help them adjust to their new, heightened abilities and senses. They'll be gone for a maximum of one day here, which because of time differences, equals three days where they are now."

"And where's that?" Shane asked warily.

I looked at Carly and shrugged cluelessly. How to explain this… "They were sent via a portal to a small island a great distance from here. It's one of the places where the evil influence of the crystal corrupted a lot of wildlife, and where they are now will help them to also learn what sort of defenses the island has, where the crystal is now. It's dangerous…" I admitted reluctantly. "But Carly assured me they can handle it, and I trust her."

Still, I could tell from the looks on their faces that they didn't, and I didn't blame them. They didn't know her.

"Why give them a task for this?" Cam piped up, continuing the slowly getting very annoying line of questions.

"Because with their senses all hyped up at once, they'll feel like they're on overload." I tried to explain. "Basically, they'd be very confused, and in that state, if one of you were to accidentally startle them for any reason or in any way, it could be very dangerous to you. That, or anyone they might encounter in their lifetimes."

"You don't want a little old lady coming up from behind Blake to ask him to help her get across the street, she'll startle him, and he could send her literally flying across that street to land very painfully on the other side." Carly deadpanned.

"So you're giving them three days to learn everything." He continued incredulously. "That's insane!"

"Not everything." I said softly. "And I kind of agree with that whole insane thing, for the record, but it's only to help them adapt to their senses, so they won't instinctively strike out if startled."

"What about everything else?" Tori asked, putting a hand briefly on Cam's arm to get him to wait a moment. "Won't that be dangerous?"

"Not nearly as dangerous as their senses right now." Carly answered grimly. "And as for that…" she looked pointedly at their leather outfits. "You're ninja's right? So you know how to meditate. That'll be the key to them learning whatever else they may need to know."

I noticed that Tori still seemed worried sick about them, or rather, mainly about Blake. "Don't worry, they'll be ok. They're too important to the future of this world for anything to happen to them." I tried to reassure her. "And it'll only be 24 hours before you'll be reunited."

I knew that, that didn't reassure her much, or the others, but it was all we had. Hopefully, the brothers would hurry up and get back.

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Ok, this chapter was mainly to focus on a little more background on some of the monsters and the crystal's power, as well as what happened to a lot of the dragons. And some more history on Kendra will definitely be coming up, I was just leading up to it a little more. Carly… I'm not really sure what else to say, but it'll come to me.

Hope you liked it.

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Hunter, you can't see, can you?"

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R+R please.

Thank you

Tenshi


	30. Day 2 First Encounter

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(With Blake and Hunter, Blake's POV)

"Man, who's idea was it again to let our guard down?" I groaned as I scratched at my arm and shivered a little. "What a way to wake up!"

Grimacing a little, Hunter gave me a pointed look. "And did you plan to go as long as possibly three days without sleep?" he countered. "It's not my fault we weren't as safe as we thought!"

"I never said it was." Frowning, I looked at the red patch on my arm, where I'd been scratching at it. There were no open wounds, and I felt relieved, but I couldn't get rid of the feeling of the spider's legs crawling on me.

Yeah, that's right. More of those weird yellow spiders were hiding under the boulder we were resting on, and when our guard was down, they started swarming us. I don't really know all the details, since I was asleep and it was Hunter's watch. We'd gone through one round already, and were about halfway through the night when it happened.

He said he heard a weird buzzing and got this feeling like something was wrong. When he turned to check on me, there was one of the spiders with the red dots on their back, crawling up my arm and towards my face.

"Stop scratching." Hunter scolded in a distracted tone as we walked towards the edge of the field.

_Finally made it._ I thought as I shot Hunter a pointed look and forced my hands to my sides. Looking out ahead of us, I thought my eyes were going to fall out of my head. "Oh mannnn!" Groaning, I looked out over the steamy, obviously hotter-than-here, sandy wasteland before us. "First a beach, then a forest with a harpy and those weird spiders. Next a giant, almost endless meadow with more of those gnarly spiders, and now some wasteland that looks hotter than what we've seen so far, and god-knows-what else. What's next?"

"Honestly bro, I don't wanna know." Hunter grunted in obvious disapproval as he closed his eyes a moment, opened them and started walking down the steep hill, towards the said wasteland.

Everything was so densely misty from pockets of steam that escaped from the land, that I couldn't make out what was down there, and I didn't like it. Like I mentioned, there were what could have been vents of steam that rose up like mini volcanic explosions. Then, I could see the edge of a silverfish pond that bubbled. I really didn't like the look of that, either. I mean, water wasn't supposed to seem that….sticky, or thick, was it?

Hearing the piercing caw of a bird, I looked up, jumping a little when my eyes seemed to zoom in on a few large, dark birds in the sky. _Dude! I don't think I'm ever going to get used to that!_ Looking back down, I waited for my eyes to adjust before going after my bro.

As we approached one of the steam vents, I frowned at the intense heat it was giving off. Folding my arms over my chest, I closed my eyes and jumped when I could still almost see it. It was like, even in the darkness, it was there. I could feel it's heat. Hear it's hiss and the gurgling below the ground, smell the sulfur in the air, and taste it on my tongue.

"Blake, what're you doing?"

Opening my eyes again, I looked at Hunter and blinked a moment before shrugging. "I dunno, I guess just trying to get used to these new, higher senses."

He nodded and looked at the vent. "Yeah I know, I haven't been able to focus, 'cause my mind's always on how clear my sight is, or how sharply I smell the sweat on us both…" Grinning a little, he raised an eyebrow on me. "Or that hint of perfume you've had with you."

I felt my face heating up and looked at the vent. "Yeah, well…"

"Relax bro, I was just bugging you." He chuckled slightly before taking a deep breath and letting it out with a face. "Come on, we might as well get going. We've only got 2 days, now."

Heading off into the vast wasteland, I couldn't help but wonder what we'd run into, but struggled to push that thought aside as I followed Hunter closely.

Not only were there hot steam vents, but we quickly found out that more would erupt with little to no notice. As we made our way, I've stopped a few times, along with Hunter, as we both would hear this deep, muted gurgle, like something was coming from underground. Then we'd feel a minute tremble in the ground, and know what was about to happen.

"Move!" Hunter called as we dodged the third vent to open up beneath us.

We began to run through the land, jumping over heaving piles of earth just seconds before a new vent opened. The sound of the rumbling and the extremely loud hissing of the steam made me dizzy and put me in excruciating pain. Covering my ears, I tried to focus on where Hunter was, he wasn't in much better shape than me. His own eyes were closed and he was staggering badly.

"Bro!" I called, feeling my head pound as I tried to stay focused. Getting to his side, I noticed the frown on his face, and how badly the sweat was dripping off it. Part of me just somehow knew he was probably in as much agony as possible.

_**My eyes!**_

Blinking a moment in confusion at what sounded like his voice in my head, I shook it off as my imagination and grabbed his arm, hauled it over my shoulders and began half carrying him farther into the area. Honestly, I was so turned around and mixed up at this point I didn't know which way was back, all I knew was we couldn't stay here. "Hunter! Are you ok?" I called in worry, wincing along with him when I forgot to keep my voice down, and another vent opened nearby.

"Ah, man! My eyes!" he responded in a shaky voice, filled with pain. Opening his eyes a little, he shut them again, but I noticed how badly bloodshot and red they were.

Narrowing my own eyes, I turned sharply and pulled hard, just barely managing to avoid another vent as it opened, and squeezing between two, holding my breath and struggling to remain conscious as the heat got intense. "What happened?"

"A vent." Was his only reply.

Looking around, I hauled him farther into the mist, noticing when the vents seemed to slow down with their sudden eruptions, and Hunter began walking better on his own. _A vent…_ "You got too close to a vent as it opened?" I questioned, sighing a little as he nodded and tried opening his eyes again.

They were very out of focus and glazed, and I could tell he couldn't see too well, if at all.

Taking a glance around myself, I only just realized most of the vents were gone and no more were suddenly just opening beneath us. Things were mercifully quiet.

"Dude." He groaned, drawing my attention back to my big bro. He was rubbing at his eyes and blinking as he looked around. Eyes still unfocused, I was pretty sure he couldn't see a thing.

To test him, I waved a hand in front of his eyes, but they didn't focus on it. Now, I was getting worried. "Hunter, you can't see, can you?"

Frowning deeply, he tried to glare at me. Unfortunately, I was about two feet to the _left_ of where he was glaring, so it had little effect. "Of course I can!" he stated firmly.

_Just like Hunter._ I thought with a small smile, even if his tough attitude annoyed me a little right about now. _Always trying to be the strong one._ "Bro, I'm two feet to the left of where you're glaring, and I waved a hand in front of your face and you didn't even notice." I explained with a raised eyebrow.

Even with the mist making things harder to see, I could make out that his face clearly turned a couple of shades darker. "I can see.." He argued again. "It's just really dark and blurry."

Nodding my head a little, I turned and looked over the area in front of us. So far, as far as I could see in every direction but the one we'd taken here, the ground was fairly even, with no boulders or trees and few steam vents. "Ok." Turning to Hunter, I took his hand and placed it on my shoulder. "Just follow me then." Turning back, I started walking, keeping a careful eye out for any sort of danger.

Occasionally, I'd hear the deep rumble that could have hinted at an underground steam vent, but it was faint, lasted for a second and was gone.

Still, I remained wary as we walked. I couldn't see far, even with my enhanced sight. The mist was that thick and dense.

"Sorry." I heard Hunter mutter behind me.

Looking over my shoulder at him, I could tell what he was thinking from the look on his face. His matted hair covered his eyes almost completely, but I could see enough to know he felt guilty.

I'd seen that look enough to learn to recognize it by now.

"Bro, don't." I stated firmly.

His eyes were rimmed in red, showing the irritation to them, and his face was kind of pale. He was sweating heavily, well, we both were in this temperature, and he had a couple of scratches on his arm from our trip so far.

"I should have been paying more attention to where I was going." He argued with a frown as he looked around blankly. "But I wasn't.

"No, you were looking after me." Feeling my own guilt start to rise, I sighed and stopped a moment. _Like always._ "Hunter, you need to pay more attention to yourself. You're always worried about me, but I can take care of myself."

"I never said you couldn't." he almost snapped as another glare crossed his face. Immediately though, it was gone and a softer look replaced it. "You're my bro, what do you expect?"

"Hunter, just promise me you'll try to look after yourself more." I sighed, not wanting to get into another argument. I was hot, and I was tired. My mood wasn't the best, so I didn't want to snap at my brother, but I was afraid that I might.

He remained silent but nodded a little and I knew that was basically his version of promising.

We traveled in silence for a bit. I think we both knew things weren't the best right now, to put it lightly. I don't even know what time it was, but we had to have lost half the day already. All I knew was it was hitting close to unbearably hot about now, and my head _still_ hadn't stopped spinning from the enhanced senses.

I did notice that it was easier coping with them. They weren't first and foremost on my mind, I think I was getting used to them.

Paying attention to where I went, we had to dodge one vent as it popped up beneath us, and when I'd jumped to the side, I landed against a large, hard object. Looking over to it, I noticed it seemed to be a giant stone pillar of sorts. It looked pretty ancient, either way. Glancing past it, I noticed the very faint outline of another one in the distance and felt a smile tug at the corners of my lips. _Finally._ "Bro, I think we made it to the ruins."

Hunter nodded grimly, his eyes a little more focused, but still pretty glazed. "About time." He grumbled.

"Alright, hopefully things will be a little easier from here on out." I stated as I trudged on towards the next pillar. I noticed a few piles of debris as we walked on. Stone piles that could have been small monuments, since they were much too small for houses of any kind. _And hopefully, we can get that Eye and go home soon._

Having no idea what lay ahead, I slowly led us on, praying that we could make it through this alright.

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Ok, so things are progressing, hmm? Hope you like it.

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"Oh, and I almost forgot, your friends are safe and with us at the cavern, waiting for you to return."

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R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	31. The Ruins

**GinaStar** - Oh of course, it's Hunter. But hey, Blake's had some close calls, too.

**Pinklen98** - Oh Lothor's being Lothor. LOL. Of course Tori's worried sick, and 1 more day, hmmm? Maybe, maybe not. ;) LOL Yes, yes, I totally agree. Shirtless is better, LOL! Oh spiders are narsty, lol.

**BlueDolphinz** - No worries, one or two of the Rangers series' dealt with Crystals, along with several stories, so it's easy to rfer to them. LOL. Hm, they might get it, we'll see. I watch way too many scary movies, so I get my ideas from there. LOL.

**JuseaPeterson -** ALREADY? My mind was in the gutter a long time ago! LOL! It's shirtless Hunter, can you really blame me? Look at Blake! I actually took a little while to think of the backgrounds. I could have said any number of things, but I didn't want Carly and Kendra to have identical backgrounds, and I wanted a little difference in there. Thinking of other stories I've written or read on Fanfiction, I managed to find a somewhat original story idea.

As you requested, this chapter centers on the guys, and the next goes back to the others with a little more info coming.

LOL. Well, I didn't want them to be all peachy-keen and happy-go-lucky while going through this, and especially with our favorite BROODY Hunter. LOL. Oh there's more of one of them getting hurt and such, I'm not saying more on that just yet it's a few chapters away. I finally finished writing the part where they are heading back to Blue Bay Harbour (though I'm not sure how that chapter turned out, I struggled with it), and it's at chapter 48, I believe. So with 2 chapter a week updates, you still have a few weeks to go, Unless I get a whole pile done, then I might up it to three chapters a week, we'll see.

LOL Lots of brotherly teasing to come yet, too.

**PinkAzn** - Awww don't worry, I love love love Hunter's eyes, so I wouldn't have anything bad happen to him. Well, he's streaking circles around you right now, (falls over laughing) so enjoy (can't stop giggling).

LOTS more to come! I'm glad you're all liking this so far! Enjoy!

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(Normal POV)

It didn't take long for the boys to find themselves definitely in old ruins. It looked like it used to be a city of stone houses and gardens, but had been long since abandoned. Besides the pillars were the remains of several houses. Some stood fairly intact, giving a lot of much needed shelter, and Blake took Hunter into one of them, helping him to sit down in a corner of the house and looking around idly.

"I don't know what to make of this place." He admitted, sitting beside his bro. Looking over, he felt his eyes narrow in concern, as he absently wiped some dust off his chest. "How're your eyes?"

Blinking twice, Hunter pursed his lips and reached up to rub at his eyes, only to have Blake grab and hold his arms away. Struggling for a second, he eventually gave up and sighed. "Getting better." It was true. While things were still very blurry and dark, they were beginning to clear. He could finally make out the figure of his brother, and basically what was a wall and what wasn't. "Think it's safe to stay here for a bit?"

They didn't have the time to waste, but they also knew they were close and both needed to rest.

"I dunno." Blake answered honestly, taking a good look at their surroundings and hoping for no more 'surprise visitors'. "Listen, you rest, I'll take watch."

Hunter tried to argue. "Blake-"

"You can't see." He interrupted his big bro. "I can. You should rest, it'll probably help your eyes."

Leaning against the fairly stable stone wall, Hunter nodded and closed his eyes, knowing Blake was right. Taking a deep breath, he slowly allowed himself to relax.

While Hunter rested, Blake leaned back as well, looking out the old doorway to the city beyond. It partially looked like it had just been left to be, many years ago. The stone lined gardens were in fairly good shape, except the plants were long since decayed due to the mist. No sunlight could get in here. There were occasional green crystals here and there. The houses, a few of them look like they'd been brought down by an unusual force, but for the most part, they, too simply looked old.

There were also the odd dead tree, standing in the center of a long pathway of stones. What looked like remains of statues lay crumbled in the center of what used to be streets.

Narrowing his eyes, Blake took a closer look at the trees and felt the blood drain out of his face when he saw the claw marks. They were huge and scarred the side of the dead tree.

And they looked pretty fresh.

Biting his lips, Blake looked at Hunter and noticed that his brother seemed relaxed. Not wanting to wake him, he was about to get up slowly when he recalled their heightened senses. If he made the slightest noise, there was no doubt it would wake Hunter up, and even if it didn't, there was always the chance of him sensing it through another sense.

So he sat back down, staring at the tree worriedly, and hoping there were no surprises in store for them for a while.

(Hunter's POV)

_Does he think I can't tell something's bothering him?_ I thought, barely biting back a frown.

The fact was, I knew the moment something made him worried. I don't know if it was a smell, or sound. It couldn't be a sight because my eyes were still bad and they were closed. I could hear when he shifted, and somehow just sensed he was uneasy, maybe even worried. I heard the almost silent sigh he let out when he shifted again, I think, to sit back down.

Part of me wanted to say something, but remembering his earlier words about taking care of myself, I remained quiet. _I did promise to try, and if anything was very wrong, I'm sure he'd tell me. I trust my bro._ I thought as I allowed myself to relax more.

Funny enough, when I let myself relax, it wasn't long before I felt sleep coming on. It was a little strange, but it's not like I noticed that as I gave in.

**Dream**

Feeling a cool breeze brush against my cheek, I opened my eyes, frowning when things were still very blurry. From what I could tell, the place was light and cool. It almost felt freezing after my body was slowly adjusting to that hot island.

I could smell a sweet, fresh air blowing by, and hear the wind rustling the leaves. The smell of flowers surrounded me, and I felt grass beneath my hands at my sides.

"Where am I?" I asked slowly, trying to look around.

Picking up the faint sound of water trickling by, I guessed there was a river or something nearby.

Getting no answer, I got worried. "Blake?" There was silence but for birds chirping. "Bro! Blake!" Recalling the dream of my parents that I had when I first bonded to my dragon spirit, I shook my head a little. _Oh no, not again._ It hurt to see them, was I going to have to see them again?

Jumping into a standing position, I tried to walk away, someplace, but tripped after the first three steps. Landing on one knee, I felt for what I tripped on, and found it to me a fair sized rock, stuck in the ground. _Great._

Suddenly, I could make out the sound of footsteps approaching. Frowning deeply, I struggled with what I wanted to do. Run off, turn and face who came at me, or try to hide. Listening for a moment, it sounded like the footsteps were light. Still being new to all this, I didn't know what to make of it, but I did understand when I smelled the scent of flowers that was different from the scent in the air before.

"Who's there?!" I demanded, standing slowly and turning around. A slender form dressed in a dark outfit, with long, dark hair, approached slowly. _Ok, so not my mom._

At the sound of my voice, they stopped and I could swear I sensed concern. "…Hunter?" came the familiar female voice. The figure moved a step closer and stopped again. "Are you ok? What happened to your eyes?"

It didn't take me long to place the voice and I felt a flash of fear run through me. _Am I going through another of those dreams?_ Blinking a moment, it quickly faded. _No, this isn't anything like the dreams I had before._

"Can you see me?" Kendra asked, stepping even closer.

Stepping back, I stumbled over that rock, but managed to keep my balance. "Kinda." I muttered reluctantly, already knowing she knew something was wrong, but not wanting to admit just how bad it was.

"What happened?!" she practically demanded, her voice full of worry. She seemed to fly forward, and I didn't have a chance to step back before I felt her hands on my cheeks.

Frowning, I tried to pull away, but she held me fast. "I'm fine."

"Oh yeah, you're fine alright. I mean, just because you can't see, doesn't mean there's something _wrong_. Oh, no, you're just peachy-keen." She answered saucily as she seemed to be looking at me. "I came to check up on you guys and see where you were in your mission." She sighed a moment before speaking again. "And I finally figured out why Carly sent you two on this mission alone."

Feeling my heart pound, I was at a loss for words. Should I deny it? Admit to it, if she already knew? What if she was bluffing, or knew something else? I tried to look around, but it didn't help with my lack of vision. "I…" Swallowing heavily, I decided to go for option number one. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yeah, sure." I heard her mutter sarcastically, under her breath. "Look, you're already into your second day into the mission. Where are you?"

Taking a moment, I tried to recall what Blake has said. "We're at the ruins…I think. In this misty wasteland with these weird steam vents?"

I watched her head bob a little and guessed she was nodding. "Steam vents, huh? Well, I think I know what happened to your eyes, and you're lucky you didn't lose them completely. Hang on." Grabbing my cheeks firmer, her hands seemed to tingle against my face, and turn cool.

I felt that coolness running through my face and body, and closed my eyes instinctively. It made the sense that I was freezing go away, as well as the pain in my head. A moment later, it faded.

"There, try now."

Opening my eyes slowly, I quickly closed them at the bright, invading light. Taking a moment to let them get used to it, I opened my eyes again, and blinked, seeing that my sight was perfectly clear like before. Realizing I was staring into Kendra's eyes, I stepped back, relieved when she let me go. "Thanks…" I muttered uncomfortably.

Winking, she grinned. "Just don't tell Carly I helped you. She'd have a fit." Pursing her lips, she crouched down and sat on the luscious green grass and pulled a blade to play with it. "So, what kind of excitement have you run into?" she asked idly, even though I knew there was more to her questions than random curiosity.

Raising an eyebrow, I slowly knelt down across from her. "Well, this weird, decayed zombie harpy thing."

Kendra laughed a little. "A 'weird, decayed zombie harpy thing'?" she repeated in amusement. "Nice name for it."

"Anyways…" I stated pointedly, feeling my face warm up at her amused gaze. "It attacked us almost right away. Then we nearly got ambushed by giant yellow spiders…"

"Um, Hunter?"

"Are you going to keep interrupting me?" I snapped.

She raised her hands in a sign of peace. "No, I thought it would be fair to warn you, you really don't want to be bitten by one of those."

"Gee, I didn't realize." Sighing, I looked at her a moment. "Why not?"

Shrugging a little, she looked away. "Ever heard the term 'bugs under your skin'?"

Frowning, I scratched absently at my arms, very glad neither Blake or myself had been bitten.

"In a sense, they inject eggs into your blood. You'd literally have bugs under your skin." She informed me with a shudder and look of disgust.

"Nice." Shaking my head, I got worried about Blake again. "We got ambushed by those, twice. And then had to dodge steam vents, but that's about it."

Her eyes widened. "That's _it_?!" Dropping the blade of grass to the ground, she looked down a moment. "Well, there's a lot more there. Basically, anything you deal with there, will also be on the island where the Crystal is being held. But be careful."

"I take it you're not going to tell me what's coming."

"If I could, I would. This is your test, Hunter Bradley. But honestly, now that I know what you're capable of, I agree with Carly. You guys should be fine." Smiling a little, she nodded. "Oh, and I almost forgot, your friends are safe and with us at the cavern, waiting for you to return."

That was a huge relief. Standing up, I actually smiled a little, knowing how Blake would feel at this news. "Thanks."

She moved to get up, and before I realized what I was doing, I was crouching down, taking her hand and helping her up. Giving me a bright smile, she tilted her head a little, her hair falling across her face, and backed off. "Time for me to go. I just wanted to check up on you guys. Take care, there are still dangers ahead."

I nodded and stood in place, knowing she'd send me back to my bro. Closing my eyes, I felt like I was falling, all of a sudden, and jumped a little as my eyes flew open.

**End Dream**

Jumping and gasping, I looked around and instantly noticed that not only were my eyes better, but that I was once again with Blake in the old ruins.

"Bro!" I felt a hand on my shoulder and almost jumped again before realizing it was Blake, beside me. "Hunter, are you ok?!"

Looking at him a moment I nodded before looking around again. I hadn't had a chance to see where we were before.

The place was rocky, most of the rocks a grayish, whitish color, and fairly smooth. From what I could see there were several houses in fairly good condition, some crumbled remains of statues, some dead trees and the rare bush. Honestly, it looked like some sort of ghost town, with the misty air, and utter silence all around us.

"Hunter…can you see?" Blake's voice was suspicious and I guessed it was because I looked right at him, instead of in his general vicinity.

Blinking, I snapped back to reality and turned to Blake. "Yeah." Shaking my head, I sighed and leaned back against the stone wall. "I saw Kendra in my dream. She came to check up on us." I explained. "When she realized I couldn't see, she healed me."

"Oh, well that makes sense." Blake sounded like he wasn't really sure what to say.

"And the others are safe." I added. "She mentioned they were with her and Carly at the cavern." Turning to him, I raised an eyebrow. "And she said she knew why Carly sent us on this mission alone."

Blake looked torn between being relieved and being worried at that. I knew his mind was going over the fact that everyone, meaning Tori, was fine, and then that Kendra might know our secret. "So…what does that mean?"

I shrugged. "I really don't know. I denied it when she mentioned it, but I doubt she believed me." Remembering one of her warnings, I raised a hand and pointed at Blake. "And make sure you don't get bitten by one of those spider things. Kendra said you really wouldn't want that."_ To put it mildly._ Hey, sue me, I wasn't about to tell my baby bro about the whole eggs into the bloodstream thing!

Shuddering a little, he rubbed at the red patch on his arm, where he'd been scratching at. "Gee, thanks for reminding me." He muttered quietly.

I allowed myself to relax a little, closing my eyes and concentrating on my new senses. Letting them take right control of me, I gathered what I could from them.

The air smelled damp and musty, the smell of rotten leaves filling the air. You know, the smell you get in the late autumn as the leaves on the ground get soggy and start to decay. It was humid, and again my body had to begin to adjust to it, and the air was dense, heavy to breathe.

Then there was the sound of a light wind blowing through the holes in the walls and such, creating light wheezes and creaks everywhere. If I listened hard enough, I could make out water trickling, or maybe wind blowing through leaves. I wasn't sure. The sound wasn't nearby though, as there were no trees bearing leaves for the wind to blow through, and there didn't seem to be any rivers or creeks.

My eyes were closed, so I couldn't see anything, but thinking over what I'd seen before, I picked out little details. For one, the statues were of humanoids with dragon-like wings. At least, from the little I saw of intact parts. So maybe this was an old Dragon Clan city at one time.

There were the occasional dragon statue, and some of what looked like angels. Humans with angel wings.

That made me frown. _I don't remember anyone telling us anything about humans with angel wings._ I thought in confusion.

Opening my eyes again, I focused on a nearby tree, seeing what looked like relatively fresh claw marks on it. _And I really don't like the looks of that._

With the frown fixed firmly in place, I slowly stood up, all too aware of our time limit. "Come on, bro. We don't have time to sit here." I stated, looking down at Blake and offering him a hand up. "We have an Amethyst Eye to find, and friends to get back to."

Seeing the look of determination cross his face, I nodded and we ducked out of the building, looking around a moment. Blake pointed out the path he'd taken to bring us here, but other than that…

"We have two more paths." Looking at them, I tried to figure out which way to go. "One has more of these…houses along it, and the other has those huge pillars."

"We know the path to the Eye is in a cave opening, in the ruins." Blake added.

I nodded a little and crossed my arms over my chest, biting back a wince when I felt how sticky my body was from the sweat. _Dude, I so need a shower._ I thought briefly, before shaking my head. _Ok, not the time to be thinking of that. Focus._ "Yeah, we know the path to the Eye is here…but where? We don't know if it's on the ruin edge…or where the ruin edge is, for that matter."

"Well, the one with the houses is probably like a side path to…well, just more houses." He offered awkwardly. "So maybe we should try the pillar path first?"

_One's just as good as the other._ I thought with a shrug. Starting down it, I kept a close eye on our surroundings, not entirely sure what to expect. Glancing out of the corner of my eye, I saw Blake doing the same, and figured he was probably thinking the same thing. _Let's just get the Eye, and get this over with._

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Hope you like it, a nice long shower of Blake and Hun-oops…. O.o Well, after that comment earlier (about a shower), in the fic, can you guess where my mind is? LOL! Omg! (falls over laughing) I MEANT chapter! LOL!! I really did!

Ahem… well, (is blushing furiously) I hope you liked the CHAPTER, anyways. O.o LOL!!

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"…still Caro Trees, Windian Ghouls."

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The above is only a partial quote to give you a slight heads up to what monsters are still coming.

R+R please (is still blushing and giggling)

Thank you

Tenshi


	32. Getting Informed

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(With the others, Tori's POV)

"So…" Shane tried to start up some sort of conversation, but when no one picked up, he sighed and looked at the ground from where he sat against one of the green crystalloid walls.

Thinking quickly, I turned to Carly and Kendra. "So, uh, how long have they been gone?" I asked curiously, trying to sound like I was only just curious. To be honest, I couldn't help but worry about them both, mainly Blake. My mind kept running to the whole bonding thing, and then this new mission of theirs.

Kendra and Carly basically told us about their mission, but even though they both assured us Hunter and Blake were safe, I got the impression from Kendra that there was more to it than that. She wasn't as sure as Carly was. That did little to help reassure me.

Giving me a knowing look, Kendra seemed to think about it. "Well, in their time, they left yesterday, early in the day. So this is more or less their second day."

"And how far did they make it?" I asked, knowing Kendra spoke to Hunter while in a trance earlier.

Pursing her lips, she looked lost in thought. "Well, from Hunter's point of view, they're in the old ruins. Now they just have to find the path to the Minotaur's Glade, and get the Eye."

"You mean, find the path, find the Glade, fight possibly a bunch of minotaurs and who knows what else, and then get the Eye." Shane put in pointedly. From the look on his face, it was obvious that he wasn't too happy about the situation, either.

"Dude, like… I still don't get why one of you didn't go with them." Dustin added with a frown from next to the fountain.

Laughing a little, Carly shook her head, pointedly ignoring the suspicious glare she was getting from Cam. "That's simple. It's _their_ task. If we went, it would defeat the purpose, which is to help them adapt to their new heightened senses."

"And why couldn't they just meditate?" Shane put in.

"Because they wouldn't even know where to begin and it would take even more time this way. With the pressure on their time limit and completing their mission, they'll pay less attention to their senses and probably won't even notice as they start to get used to them." She answered with a look.

"What do they have to face still?" I asked, trying to keep the conversation from dying at that point. "I mean, you mentioned they ran into a weird zombie harpy."

"Thing." Kendra stated with a grin and a giggle.

"Huh?" I asked cluelessly.

Shaking her head, still grinning away, Kendra looked at me. "Hunter called it a 'weird, zombie harpy thing'." She clarified. "And yes, I know. I also mentioned them running into the Yellow Dack Spiders."

"You mean, 'back'." Cam said in confusion.

She shook her head again. "No, I mean 'Dack'. It's a name they've had for generations. And other than those, there's still Caro Trees, Windian Ghouls…" Her face turned horribly sad at mentioning them. "And the minotaurs."

"Ok, you lost me on the first two." Raising an eyebrow, I didn't really care for the sound of the _ghouls_ part.

Making a face, Kendra sighed. "Caro trees are one of the most dangerous. They can send off a pollen that makes you hallucinate. You'll see a beautiful, flowering tree, and feel strangely drawn to it." The look on her face said she was recalling personal experience. "If you're lucky and someone holds you back, the pollen is only temporary, and you'll soon see what it really is. It looks like a flowering tree, yes. But the blooms are black and sickly looking. You'll also probably notice tons of bones around the bottom of the tree, maybe it'll have a lot of crows and bugs around…"

"If you're not lucky and get too close, you'll find out first hand just _why_ those bones are there." Carly added as her face paled a little. "The tree has mutated, and has underground tentacles just waiting to rip through the earth and grab it's prey. It feeds on flesh, and it drips a poisonous fluid onto the body that slowly drains the energy from it. Even if you get away, unless treated for the poison, you'll still be dead within the next two days."

"Oh, nice." I stated, feeling sick. _I really hope Hunter and Blake don't run into any of those._

"And the Ghouls are a lot like zombies. They look the same, only not as decayed, more like mummies. They are also stronger and faster than zombies. Windians…" Carly's face turned horribly sad as well and I knew there was a story here. "They used to be an ally race of ours. Strong magicians with bird-like wings. Unfortunately…" she exchanged a look with Kendra. "The forbidden crystal originated there, due to a corrupted dragon spirit hiding there. When it originated, the burst of power it let out was unimaginable, and it instantly turned every Windian citizen into a Ghoul."

"So, can they still use magic?" I asked.

Now Kendra looked clueless and turned to Carly. "Um, that I don't know. I never ran into any."

"And you don't have the info from your dragon, or whatever?" Shane put in, in confusion.

"I wasn't born a dragon clan, like Carly. I bonded to my spirit here, only a year ago. There's still a lot I don't know."

"That kind of brings up a point." Cam finally spoke up. "We don't really know much about either of you."

"Well the Ghouls can't use magic anymore, no." Carly interrupted, answering their last question. "They don't have the higher brain functions to do so." "As for knowing us, you pretty much know all there is to know about me. I was born here in the area, already bonded to my dragon spirit. Other than that, I occasionally go to the world beyond this place to… I don't know, broaden my horizons. I learned about extreme sports there, and I took a liking to rock climbing."

"And me, well, I bonded to my dragon about a year ago, as I keep saying. I don't know what else to tell you." Kendra put in.

"Well, what about before that?" I asked, leaning forward to rest my arms on my legs. "Before you bonded?"

"I was a tourist." Smiling a little, she shrugged. "Basically, I was traveling. I came from Angel Grove, looking to see what other places are out here. I know, I heard about the Power Rangers and attacks on the city, but I couldn't get past the fact that they were supposed to be myth. To be honest, I felt like I was pulled here. I bought a small place in town to stay, and checked the place out."

Pursing her lips, her eyes narrowed for a moment, like she was struggling to recall something. "I…think I was out jogging one day when I just lost myself in thought. Before I knew it, I was at the cliff."

"That's where I came in." Carly put in. "I'd known about her coming, and it was up to me to get her here. Still, I didn't know how she'd react to meeting a person who could turn into a dragon. I basically snuck up behind her, and growled in dragon form."

"She startled me and I jumped as I turned, falling over the edge of the cliff." Kendra continued, looking a little less than happy at that. "When I saw a green dragon floating next to me in the water below, I was a little scared, I'll admit, but I also knew somehow, that I didn't need to be afraid." Rolling her eyes, she sighed and leaned back against the back of the stone she was sitting on. "My curiosity got the best of me and I followed her through the underwater cavern. It wasn't easy, let me tell you, I thought I was going to drown."

"So you went jogging in a gown?" Dustin asked cluelessly.

Now I laughed with Kendra and Carly as Shane lightly smacked the back of Dustin's head, and Cam looked away a moment, obviously trying not to laugh.

"No…" Kendra giggled a little more. "There are…remains of cities around here. I couldn't stay here in a soaked jogging outfit, so when Carly _finally_ introduced herself to me, she showed me to one with old wooden dressers full of clothing." Giving him a look, she raised an eyebrow. "These people were isolated from the rest of the world, they didn't exactly have jeans and t-shirts."

"It must have been tough, bonding with your dragon spirit." I put in, feeling my own curiosity run wild. "What's that like? And how did you cope?"

"It was like my head was going to explode. Everything was too loud, all the smells were overpowering. Things that felt rough against my hands before, made me wonder why they didn't cut my skin, they were so rough, after. I could see farther than I should have been able to, throwing off my balance because I couldn't pay attention to what was closer to me." Frowning a little, Kendra looked at the fountain briefly. "I knew my dragon spirit could talk before, and I think part of me was waiting for it to do so, and send my already overloaded senses right over the edge."

"But that's just it. The part of the dragon that speaks is… It's hard to explain." Carly tried. "It's like it's buried deep inside you. If you can meditate into a deep enough trance, you can actually speak to them, but that's about it."

"But what about their minds?" Cam asked, forgetting his suspicious nature for a moment as his curiosity overpowered him. "Isn't it difficult to deal with multiple personalities in your head?"

"There wasn't. That's just it. There are times when the dragon's mind is almost completely in control, but otherwise, your minds are so closely bonded and integrated, that their thoughts become yours and vice versa." Rubbing her arm a little, Kendra looked at him. "They think a lot like their human halves, so it's almost impossible to tell which thoughts are whos."

"And these two exceptions are…?" Shane looked fairly lost but as though he was trying to follow.

"When a Dragon Clan experiences an extremely strong emotion, it's possible for the Dragon side to awaken more fully and take control. Two times to watch yourselves around your friends Hunter and Blake are when they are experiencing 'Dragon Rage' or 'Dragon Fear'. Like their names, if those emotions become strong enough, they will lose a lot of coherency. They very likely will only recognize those closest in their hearts. Loved ones, family… For Hunter, it would be Blake first and foremost. If Blake was badly injured, he might not let anyone near either of them."

"And for Blake, it would be Hunter." I finished, knowing what she was getting at.

She looked at me a moment before looking away, and I could swear she muttered something that sounded like 'and you', but I wasn't sure.

Feeling my face heat up, I cleared my throat and resisted the urge to bite my lip. "So these Dragon Rage and Dragon Fear… We need to be careful around them? I mean, you said they wouldn't let us near, but would they hurt us?"

"If you tried to come near them, and they warned you and you kept trying anyways, yes."

I nodded. _So we're learning more and more about this. But…how much do Hunter and Blake know? Where are they? _Biting my lip, I looked to the rocky ground. _Please let them be ok. Let _him_ be ok._

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Hope you liked it. To my readers and reviewers, this hopefully gives you more insight to the questions I've been asked. I'm glad I got to this point because the most recent question about the dragons, actually gave me the idea to answer all these questions in this chapter.

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"Ok that was not fun."

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R+R please.

Thank you

Tenshi


	33. Day 2, Second Encounter

**BlueDolphinz** - Well, maybe and maybe not. lol. You never know who or what's good and who or what's bad here. I try to change POVs in order to give a better understanding into different peoples' thoughts about what's going on.

**Pinklen98** - LOL! Omg! If I could, I would! (Points to an enclosed room.) They're in there now, getting the grime off them. Ewww! No, no! (Shudders) I wouldn't put EITHER of the boys through that! Ew! LOL.Exactly, Blake loves Tori, sadly both of them seem shy around each other in that respect and can't actually SAY anything about it. -.-'

**GinaStar** - Omg! You gave ME that image! (Tries not to drool and struggles to focus) Oh man, Hunter in the shower, covered in water droplets, his big blue eyes standing out with his soaking hair hanging over his face... (Fails miserably, gives a big fangirl squeal, and starts drooling) Tanned skin, toned body... OK! ENOUGH! (Forced self back to 'T' rated state of mind) LOL!

Hahaha, I forget what I put about Tori and Blake. I'd have to look over the chapters sometime. LOL.

**JuseaPeterson** - Of course! This is Hunter and Blake we're talking about! Who's mind WOULDN'T be in the gutter at some point, when thinking about them? LOL I knew the others would be on the Thunder Brothers' minds alot, which is why I wanted to at some point reassure them they were ok. I have a lot of Hunter, Blake, and Kendra's POVs, so in a while (like 16 chapters or so, where I am now,) I have Tori's POV coming in again.

Haha, I wanted Kendra to speak her mind without being obvious. They know Tori's important to Blake and vice versa, so I wanted to play on that thought. I also liked the idea of powerful emotions that could make the boys go animalistic in a sense, which is where I came up with the Dragon Fear and Dragon Rage. I mean, Hunter growling (in his human form) with big wings and crouched down glaring dangerously... (sighs dreamily)

Thanks for being patient guys. I've been so busy with school that I've had trouble keeping up with my writing on the story. Luckily, I have about 16 chapters to go to where I am now, so another 8 weeks of double updates. And school lets out for the summer around the end of this month, so I am hoping to be able to get back to writing very soon after.

And for those curious, I got my Grade 12 English in 16 days with a course average of 89 (Gotta love how writing and talking on MSN does wonders for your English and typing speeds, LOL!!) And I've just recently finished Grade 12 Business English (I have yet to receive my course mark).

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(With the Brothers, Hunter's POV)

Ducking under a clawed arm, and jumping to the side, I cringed as the weird…._thing_ ran into a dead tree. "And whose idea was it to come this way??" I asked incredulously, feeling a hand on my arm. Spinning in place, I leveled a high placed kick at another creature's head and watched it fly back. "Don't these things stay down?!"

Blake was busy taking care of his own group of monsters… I had no idea what to call them. They kind of looked like zombies, but also kind of looked like mummies. They had these old, worn wings just sitting on their backs limply. They looked like they used to be human. Well, human...with wings...

Now their faces were sagging, their skin white and dried out looking. Their eyes were milky white, and the teeth in their mouths, sharpened to fangs. They were practically nothing but skin and bone, the occasional hole in their skin. And they wore what looked like old white robes that have seen too many dusty days.

Hearing Blake cry out, I watched as one of them scratched his arm deeply before he kicked it away. "Dude, it's not like I knew these were here!" he cried as he grabbed his bleeding arm.

Gathering my thunder energies, I looked to the nearest group of monsters and lashed out. "Power of Thunder!" The lightning hit them and knocked them back, but unfortunately, it wasn't enough to keep them down. "What the…? It didn't work!" I gathered my energy again and hit them again, watching as they fell over the side of a cliff.

Raising an eyebrow, I nodded to myself. "Ok, that did." Turning to my brother, I kicked another one back and dodged a few as I ran to his side. "Look, push them over the cliff!"

We'd been walking along this path for a while. The pillars got fewer and fewer as they widened apart. I could have sworn there'd be this big monument or building or something, but instead, we were faced with a massive empty land, and a huge cliff.

Well, to be honest, it looked like that cliff hadn't always been there.

Oh, and I can't forget the hoard of these things, too.

"Ok, ready!"

Turning to a large group between us and the cliff, I glanced briefly at Blake and saw him nod. Together we gathered our thunder energies, and strangely enough I felt warm, like someone suddenly turned the heat up. Ok, yeah, with this place…warm_er_. Still, when we used our powers, I thought I saw a more hazy edge to mine, like I was using fire, instead of thunder.

And much to my surprise, our powers together knocked the whole group right back and over the edge of the cliff.

"Whoa! Did you feel that?" I asked with wide eyes, feeling a little more drained than I think I should have.

Blake kicked another one of the zombie-mummy things away before nodding, his own body shaking a little. "Yeah, I felt chilled."

_Chilled?_ "Chilled?" I asked in confusion. "I felt warmer, like I was standing near a fire or something." Shaking my head, I ducked under one that looked like it wanted to take a chunk out of my neck and punched it in the chest before drawing back and using my powers again.

Keeping up at this rate, we managed to get them all over the cliff in no time, but I think we both felt fairly drained, and Blake came away with that scratch on his arm, and me with one on my side.

"Ok that was not fun." Blake said as he carefully checked his wound.

Nodding in agreement, I carefully walked forward and looked over the edge of the cliff, feeling my eyes widen in horror. "Whoa, dude! I don't think that was, either!"

A good drop below us, there was a large hole in the ground and a fall of lava coming from it. From the falls there was a large pond of it, with a narrow stream leading away. Within the pond, I could make out the thrashing forms of the last of those things, melting away in no time.

"Bro, check that out."

Following Blake's voice, I saw him pointing to a couple of odd little islands in the lava pond. There were what looked like ancient stone ruins on them, and when I looked to the base of the cliff, I saw more debris. It looked like a large building used to be here.

_Well I guess I was right about that cliff not always being here._ I thought vaguely as I looked around more.

There were the remains of a cemetery on the far bank of the lava pond, and maybe the equivalent of what we'd use as a church. So maybe the town continued down there.

Pulling away from the edge, I took a deep breath, only just realizing how thick the air was due to the heat. I looked around at the area we were in now, wiping the sweat off my face as I did so. Narrowing my eyes, I felt like I was suddenly looking farther, and I could make out buildings in the distance. The way we'd come, there was nothing but mist, showing that we'd come a long way. Then, straight ahead, there were more pillars, but it looked like they were on a curved path, heading down, towards the lava pond.

Then, to our right, there was another building. A big one.

For some reason, I kind of felt drawn to that building. It was like something was telling me 'yeah, that's the way to go'. Frowning a little, I stood up and tried to look through the doorframe with a wooden door barely hanging on.

"Hunter? What're you looking at?"

The door was blocking most of my view, but it looked like the building was mostly intact. "That building…"

"What building?" He was silent for a moment. "Oh, that building?"

I couldn't help but grin, knowing he had to use that heightened sight to see it. "I don't know why, but I wanna check it out."

"Uh, ok." He offered in a tone that told me he was confused.

Jogging over to it, I carefully scanned the area for signs of any more of those weird zombie-mummy things, but it looked like we were alone. Looking through one of the broken windows, I could make out an old fashioned wooden dresser with a yellowed, cracked mirror on the top. On the top, flat part of it, I could see what looked like remains of personal items, like hair brushes, and bits of clothing. Then, there was a fairly shabby bed on the other wall, that looked big enough for two people.

On the far wall were two doors, one was open, showing it was a closet, and the other was closed, but I guessed it led to a hallway.

"I take it we're going in?"

Glancing at Blake, I nodded. "There's just something I want to check." Looking at the door I walked over and tried to push it open, but it wouldn't budge. It was as if it was weighted down by something. I went back to the window and carefully stuck my head in, seeing that part of an upper floor had collapsed, and a different, old styled wooden dresser had fallen against the door. "Door's out." I stated with a raised eyebrow.

"Guess we'll have to use the window then." Blake stated as I pulled my head out.

Carefully knocking the remains of the glass out of the window, I climbed over the edge and jumped down, standing to the left a little so Blake could get in. The room smelled musty, like dust and mothballs. Obviously, this room had seen no life in a long time.

"Ok, so where to first?"

Looking at the hole and the closed door, I shrugged and pointed. "Well, we could climb up the hole in the ceiling, or use the door." I walked over and carefully turned the knob, listening carefully for any signs of movement on the other side. Silence. The knob turned slowly in my hand, creaking a little and showing it was rusted. _Well, here goes._ Taking a careful breath, I slowly pushed the door open.

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They're exploring the ruins. Hm, wonder what's up with the house they're checking out.

Hope you like it.

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_Always loved the water. _

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R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	34. Finding the Path

I realize the story is getting longer, I've been thinking about what to do next, and the logical thing would be to face Lothor, but I also want to give more time for Character development. I am debating on fighting Lothor and getting it over with, and maybe doing a much shorter sequel to focus more on the characters' relationships with each other, like Tori/Blake, Hunter/Kendra and more.

I didn't think of that before, part of the consequence of being exhausted and having Stargate Atlantis stuck in your head when you're trying to write. (Sighs) Joe Flanigan is an amazing guy. Funny, smart, sweet, quiet, and an amazing actor. :( Pity he's 41, married and has 3 kids. His wife's a lucky woman. Why are all the good ones taken? :(

(Heads off to sulk and leaves the next chapter up)

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(Normal POV)

As the door opened fully, the boys saw that it was indeed a very large building. There was a fairly wide path on the other side, that led around what seemed to be a large drop. It kind of reminded them of the Blue Bay mall, where you could look over the balcony to see the floor below, only.. When the boys looked over, there was a pile of debris, two floors down and what looked like a hole in the ground.

"Well, I think we found our path." Hunter muttered with a raised eyebrow.

Blake nodded and scanned the lower floors with his eyes. There were at least eight doors on each floor, and a flight of stairs leading down, with a flight of stairs leading up just opposite of it. Below them, the floors were dark, as they were underground. The only place with any light was the hole itself, and only because there was a skylight in the roof that shone down on it.

"Do you hear that?"

Frowning, Blake listened carefully and could make out the distinct scrape of claws against the stone floors. His eyes darted around as he tried to find the source, and he managed to catch one slightly rotten looking body dart through a partially open door on the lower level. "There!" he hissed quietly as he pointed.

Looking to where his brother was pointing, Hunter caught sight of a tattered looking feline head pop out of the doorway. It's one ear seemed torn right off, and it's eyes were a deep, blood red. It sniffed a little around the floor before it's head shot in either direction around it.

At least half a dozen of those zombie-mummies from earlier seemed to jump out of nowhere, and pounced on it. Before it even had a chance to fight back, they had it torn to pieces in a fierce yowl of pain, and were feeding on its rotting flesh.

"Oh, nice." Blake said heavily, placing a hand over his nose and mouth as the rotten stench seemed to make it's way up to them.

Nodding a little, Hunter backed away from the railing and looked around. "Ok so we know what's waiting for us down there. Those weird mummies, and possibly zombie cat things." Turning to his brother, he made a face. "Did we enter some Resident Evil parody or something? I mean zombies. Everywhere we turn, zombies."

Blake shrugged helplessly. "I dunno bro, but maybe we should rest a bit before going any farther."

"Yeah." Looking to the floors below, Hunter could make out the forms of more of those zombies, walking in the shadows. "No cliff, we're going to have to find another way to deal with those things."

"Maybe we can sneak by them and get down that path before they know?"

"What about those cat things? They'd probably be able to smell us." Sighing, Hunter turned back to the room they had exited. "We'd better rest there. There's only the window and door to worry about, so we'd at least be safer there, and then there's the fact that there's a bed in there…"

"What have we got to lose?"

"Don't ask." Hunter immediately answered with a dark look. "We have too much to lose. Since you took last watch, I'll take this one."

"Hey! That doesn't count!" Blake argued as he followed Hunter into the room. "You were only asleep for about an hour!"

"So? That's an hour more sleep I had than you." Pushing Blake lightly into the room, Hunter rolled his eyes and shut the door with a grin. "Besides, someone has to keep an eye out for those spiders."

Blake, who had been about to climb on the bed, stopped cold and shivered. "Would you stop bringing that up?" Backing away from the bed, he very carefully lifted the edge of the tattered, pale purple bedspread and looked under the bed, before dropping it back in place.

Unfortunately, it didn't hold and the entire edge of the bedspread fell off, practically turning to dust.

"Oh yeah, I feel so safe" he continued sarcastically, making a face. "Man this is worse than that time at Granny's place. If that was some horror movie, what's this?" Shuddering, he made a face and carefully climbed onto the bed.

Creaking and groaning, the bed shook a little and seemed like it wasn't going to hold him, but surprisingly, it did.

(Blake's POV)

When I laid on the bed, I wasn't sure how I felt about it. Sure, it was kind of comfortable, but I constantly had the feeling I was going to crash right through it, or it would topple over or something. _Trust Hunter to bring up those things._ I thought as I made a face at his back.

He was sitting in the corner, looking at the door before he turned to the old dresser with the mirror on top, and then the hole in the floor and the window.

_I don't have a fear of spiders, but man, those things could change that real quick._ I couldn't help but scratch my arms a little again, as I tried to calm down and relax.

It was starting to get later out, probably evening sometime. The sky was darkening, and I didn't know what to think. Should I be more worried? Would these things come out in force in the dark? We didn't have much time left, and god-knows how much farther to go. Would we make it in time?

Frowning to myself, I rolled onto my side, feeling my heart jump in surprise when the bed went with me, and closed my eyes, trying to will myself to sleep.

**Dream**

_Where am I?_

Looking around, I was suddenly very aware something was wrong. For one thing, I was no longer in that musty old room. Instead, I was on Blue Bay Beach. With a frown, I looked around and tried to figure out what was going on.

Shane, Dustin, Cam, and _Hunter_ were chatting and laughing a little ways over. Catching my eye, Hunter grinned and waved a bit, before pointing to the ocean.

"But, we were…" Following where he was pointing. I looked out over the waves, seeing many people swimming and playing in the surf. Some were even surfing. Speaking of surfing, it didn't take long for me to find the person I was looking for.

Long blonde hair swayed wildly behind her as she paddled out to a forming wave. Once she got into position, she quickly hopped up onto the board and steadied herself, her beautiful face set in determination as she turned to face the shore, grinning.

_Tor…_ Taking a deep breath, I watched as she easily rode the waves to the bottom, and dove off her board to begin swimming to shore. I couldn't help but smile. _Always loved the water. _

"Hey Blake."

Hearing Kendra's voice, I frowned again and turned to find her right behind me. "Ok, what's going on?" _I knew it had to be a dream!_

She smiled a little and looked past me before her gaze returned to me. "You really love her, don't you?"

My face immediately began to heat up and I could only stare in shock. "Huh?" Ok, not the most intelligent reply, but could you blame me? This just came out of nowhere!

Kendra giggled and sighed a little. "Tori, you really love her. And she loves you." Pointing in my face before I could say a word, she winked. "And don't deny it, I can tell. I mean, you get all flustered whenever anyone mentions it, or dreamy if they mention her. And she wouldn't stop bothering me about checking up on you."

I was still pretty shell shocked. "She loves me?" To be honest, I think I kind of had a feeling she liked me, or, well…I kind of hoped so, but love? Yeah, I mean, I love her, I can admit to that. Either that, or it's bordering on obsession, because she's all I can think about when I'm not worrying over my bro. But to hear that she loved me, I couldn't help but doubt it. I'd hurt her, deeply. How could she forgive me so easily for it?

"Well, from all the flustering she does when you're mentioned, and how worried she so obviously is about you. She was quiet about it, but she kept hinting at the fact that I should check up on you, since last time I'd found out Hunter was blinded." Looking at me, she raised an eyebrow as her eyes landed on my arm. "Hm, Ghouls?"

In confusion, I looked at my arms and nodded a little when I remembered the scratches. "Ghouls? Would those be the humanoid things with wings that tried to take a bite outta me and my bro, or the zombie cat things by the entrance to the underground path in the ruins?"

"First one. Zombie cats?" She looked a little confused herself, for a moment. "Ohhhh… I know those, I just can't think of their name. Hang on." Pursing her lips, she reached out and healed my arm as her expression turned lost in thought. "Um, they're like panthers from the outside world, your world, but they're not black or white. …Coeurls! That's it!"

"Curls?" I repeated with a face.

Kendra busted up laughing at that and shook her head. "No, no, Coeurls. Be careful with them, they don't have the best senses, but they pack a vicious bite!"

"So…Tori asked you to come check up on us?" I asked, trying to get back on topic.

"No."

Feeling my heart drop a little I nodded. "Oh, I guess I understood wrong. I thought that's what you said." I knew it was probably ridiculous, but I couldn't help but be hurt when Kendra said that.

"I said she sent me to check up on _you._ Well, she's worried about Hunter, too, but you're number one on her list."

Again my face began heating up. "Oh."

"So you're at the entrance to the path to the Glade?"

Nodding a little, I looked at Kendra. "Only there's a problem. Our powers don't work too well against the Ghouls, and there's quite a few of them in the way."

"Fire. Burn them. They'll practically disintegrate in it." She stated dismissively.

"Ok, know where to get fire?"

"Hunter. He's got the power of fire in him."

"And how exactly is he supposed to manage to learn to control that by the time I wake up?" I challenged with a raised eyebrow.

"Ok, so… I didn't think about that." She admitted with a blush and mild glare. "Come on, you're ninjas! I'm sure you know many ways to create fire! Rub two sticks together. Use a lighter on something made of wood!"

"Got a lighter?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

She opened her mouth to say something before her face turned confused. Placing the palms of her hands together, she muttered a few quiet words and a pale light glowed in her palms before it flashed brightly and faded away. "Actually…" Closing her hands, she reached out and held one in front of me.

With a frown, I reached forward and let her drop a metal lighter into my hand.

"Yeah. I do. Carly said something about you possibly needing a light source or something, and since you can't control your powers…" Trailing off, she shrugged a little. "Well, at least it's a way to make fire."

"Ok, now how to use it on the zombies?"

"Be creative?" she suggested with a giggle. "Like I told Hunter before, this is your mission."

"Wait." Looking at her a moment, I tried to think of what I wanted to ask, since Hunter had told me he tried to get her to help, but she wouldn't. After a moment, I decided to just try and ask. "We've been surprised by a lot of these monsters. Can't you tell us what to expect next?" It wasn't that I was asking her to help us cheat, just that I wanted to have an idea of what kind of monsters we still had yet to face.

Pursing her lips, Kendra made a bit of a face. "Well, the Coeurls were unexpected, I thought they'd died out."

"They did." I muttered, causing her to raise an eyebrow. "Remember, I said zombie cats. This thing was rotting away in front of us."

Frowning a little, she nodded. "That shouldn't be possible unless the Ghouls are attacking them. They can infect those they bite and turn them into zombies."

"WHAT??" Looking at my arm, my mind flashed to the scratches that were there and the ones on Hunter's side.

"_Bite_." She stated again, pointedly. "Not scratch."

"Oh.."

"Were the Ghouls feeding on them at all?"

Nodding a little, I shuddered a bit. "It's like they swarmed one that we saw."

"Ok, be really careful, the Ghouls are starving then. It makes them weaker, but also more desperate. They need the fresh blood and life energy in their systems of they will decay to the point of being nothing but skeletons. And keep an eye out, there might still be living Coeurls around." Sighing, she stepped back. "Alright, it's about time I go."

"Wait! Can you tell the others we're fine?" I asked, Tori's face crossing my mind.

Kendra smirked and nodded. "Sure, I'll tell her."

Before I could open my mouth to say anything, there was a bright flash of light, causing me to shut my eyes in surprise.

**End Dream**

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Coeurls are a name given to an existing monster in the Final Fantasy Games. Windians are taken from Breath of Fire games.

Hope you like it.

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"Kendra said something abou-hey, wait. How'd you know she was in my dream?"

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R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi


	35. Ouch

**BlueDolphinz** - This is a really good idea to how to recall what happened before. Thanks. I'm not sure how it'll work, but I'll definitely give it a try. So each chapter will carry the last little bit of the previous chapters in order to help people catch up. And no, trust me, the monsters aren't good. LOL.

**GinaStar** - As if it's THAT hard to find something to drool about when it comes to HUNTER. LOL!! There's the hair, boyish grin, pout, eyes, half smirk, lean/toned body, tallness, broodiness, sometimes shy and hesitant-ness, LOL! Need I go on? Oh, don't forget how he looks in leather! Or how hot he is on his bike! LOL!

**Pinklen98** - Hm, well, another one in this chapter. LOL. Oh, um, warning? It's not a pretty chapter, but I'm hoping it's not too bad. O.o All I have to say is, poor Hunter. LOL He's BLAKE! He wouldn't be quite as cute if he wasn't so dense. And LOL! at the 'even with your shirt on' comment. Hahahaha! No, Tori will stop loving him if he puts his shirt back on. (watches Blake rip his shirt off and set fire to the rest) O.o ...LOL!

**JuseaPeterson** - I'm more or less done now. I almost have 3 credits and then I go back in the Fall for my last one. Then I'm done totally. I don't know if you got my wall post, but I warn you now, there's a tissue-requirement for an upcoming chapter. It's a sad memory one (that's all I'm saying on public where everyone will see.) LOL. Well, they're opposites. LOL. And I don't always want them to be able to beat a monster with their powers, I want to use coincidance, things around them and their minds, too.

Little dragons make appearances soon. Well, one little dragon makes a few appearances. LOL. I loved Hunter's comments about the spiders and how he keeps bugging Blake about it, and Blake's responses. Oh my gosh, Jusea! You like Hunter/Blake right? That sad chapter coming up is going to have HEAPS of it! It MIGHT make you a little teary, it did me, but I tried to get his reactions and thoughts down for the flashback, and I love the chapter. :D (not the sadness, but the feeling in the chapter itself)

I think I'm going to work it all into one story. I am starting to get stuck on Stargate and Stargate Atlantis, so my muse is running stronger for that. We'll have to see. I have written up to chapter 53 (haha, opposite of 35 53). LOL! The sad flashback chapter is chapter 51, so a little ways to go.

Ok, on with the story and thanks to all that are keeping going and who have shown incredible patience. I hope this story lives up to your expectations. :)

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**Last Time**

"Wait! Can you tell the others we're fine?" I asked, Tori's face crossing my mind.

Kendra smirked and nodded. "Sure, I'll tell her."

Before I could open my mouth to say anything, there was a bright flash of light, causing me to shut my eyes in surprise.

**This Time**

(Hunter's POV)

While Blake slept, I kept a close eye on the window and door, but don't think I missed it when he started to mumble. I wasn't sure exactly what was going on, but it sounded like he was talking to someone. Hearing 'she loves me?', somehow, I knew he wasn't dreaming about Tori. That meant, it was likely Kendra paying him a visit.

That made me frown deeply. _What would Kendra be doing in my bro's dream?_ She'd always come to me, so to have her actually appear to Blake and talk to him… Well, she did before, to kind of hint at him about the Dragons, but I couldn't recall him ever telling me about her talking to him face to face in his dreams. I wasn't sure why I really had a problem with it, or even if I did. It was just… I guess I got used to her coming to me.

A sound outside the door made me freeze, and I slowly turned my head to it. It was dark out, very dark, and even with my enhanced sight I could still only barely see. Still, I could clearly hear a scratching just outside the door. There was no light, so I couldn't make out visual movement, but the scratching sounded like claws.

_Probably one of those zombie cat things._ I thought as the sound faded away a moment, only to come back. _Probably making rounds. Or maybe it smelled us before._ Frowning, I kept a close eye on the door as the scratching seemed to stop.

"…Fire…" Blake mumbled in his sleep.

Glancing briefly at the window, and then carefully scanning Blake's still form, I raised an eyebrow, briefly wondering what he was talking about, before turning back to my silent vigil.

The scratching was right outside the door. Very slowly and carefully, I slipped into stealthy ninja mode and got up from my place. I didn't dare move, because I couldn't see well enough to make sure I didn't step on any lose debris that could make a sound, but I silently raised my hands in front of myself, falling into a defensive stand as the door seemed to move a bit.

There was no way it could turn the ancient knob to open the door, but I could clearly tell it was trying to get through. Part of me wanted to wake Blake, in case I needed his help, or he needed to move quickly. But then, another part of me didn't dare move any more than I already had, in case I made some sort of noise and attracted more unwanted attention.

_Go away._ I prayed silently, my eyes narrowed on the darkened doorway. _Just go away…_

"WHAT??"

Jumping about a foot in the air, I spun to Blake, feeling my heart pound. Seeing him lying still, obviously still asleep, I didn't know whether to be royally peeved or relieved he was alright.

I settled for both.

Hearing the scratching noise stop a moment, I spun back to the door, no longer caring about silence as I gathered my energies, ready to fire a lightning bolt through the door before wringing Blake's neck, but after a second, it started back up, fading away slowly the way it had first come. The creature was leaving.

_What the…? Didn't it hear Blake's cry?_ Scratching the back of my head as I slowly relaxed and let the energies flow out of me, I looked over my shoulder, curious about what was going on to make him yell like that, and wanted to give him an earful. "I swear bro, I wouldn't be surprised if I'd just had a heart attack." I muttered darkly, glaring at his still form as I crossed my arms over my chest and took a deep breath.

Admittedly, my heart was still pounding.

A few more minutes of still silence and Blake gasped sharply before jumping into a sitting position, the bed swaying dangerously as he did so. His eyes were open wide for a moment as he looked around, and as his eyes settled on me, he frowned. "…What?"

I must have still been wearing that dark look. "You tell me. You just yelled out in your sleep and nearly gave away our hiding position to one of those weird things out there." I stated as I pointed over my shoulder to the door. "Wanna tell me what Kendra said before I wring your neck for giving me a heart attack?" I added dryly.

Carefully getting out of the bed, he made a face at it before turning to me and stretching slightly. "I yelled?" he asked distractedly.

I raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Yeah."

"Oh." Shaking his head, he seemed to focus. "Kendra said something abou-hey, wait. How'd you know she was in my dream?"

Looking over my shoulder at the door I turned back to Blake when I saw it was clear. "Oh it was simple. I heard you say 'she loves me?' and knew it couldn't be you talking to Tori in a dream, since obviously, you were talking _about_ her."

Even in the darkness, I was sure Blake's face turned a few nice shades of red as he ducked his head in embarrassment. "Yeah, well…"

"So what did she say?" I asked again, sort of taking pity on him.

"Those cat things are Curls, or something, and you don't wanna get bitten by them because if you do… No, wait, that's the Ghouls… The Curls have a nasty bite." He seemed to be struggling to recall what it was he heard. "Those Ghouls can like poison you if you get bitten and turn you into a zombie, or something."

"Oh there's a nice thought." I grumbled sarcastically as I carefully checked the scratches on my side.

"Just bites though, Kendra assured me that scratches don't count." Scratching at his chest a little, he made a face. "Dude, I need a shower." He muttered absently. "Oh, and Kendra said that fire works great against the Ghouls."

"And just where are we supposed to get fire?" I was getting a little annoyed now. "She keeps coming here, telling us these little things, and leaving us with more problems than we had before!" _Don't get bitten by this, don't get bitten by that. _"She could at least give us something more solid than her words! What're we supposed to do? Snap our fingers and magically make fire appear?" I almost shouted, snapping my fingers to make a point.

Imagine my confusion and shock when a little flame appeared at my finger tips.

"…..Ok, uh, what just happened?" I asked cluelessly, staring at the little glowing flame in my hand. _That wasn't supposed to happen…was it?_

Blinking for a moment, Blake raised an eyebrow and turned to the bed. "Kendra said your element was fire, but until you learned to control it…" He dug around carelessly in the ragged sheets, sending little pieces of them falling to the ground. "Aha! There it is!" Grabbing something off the bed, he turned around. "She gave us this." Holding up a lighter, he shrugged a little. "So she did give us something more solid than her words."

"Yeah, yeah." I muttered lowly, feeling my face heat up and feeling bad for my words. Shaking my hand, I watched the flame go out and shuddered a bit as I looked closely at my hand, not surprised to find no sign of burns. "Bro-"

"Look, we barely know her, but give her a chance, bro." he interrupted me. "I think we both know she's helping us out more than she really should have to. Like she's said to us both, this is _our_ mission. That's why the others aren't here, that's why she and Carly aren't here."

"I know." Sighing, I closed my eyes and rubbed the bridge of my nose. "I didn't mean it bro, you know that."

"I know, you're tired. Come on, get some sleep. I'll take next watch and figure out what to make torches from with the lighter." Looking up, his eyes darted past me and widened in horror. "Or, maybe not."

Suddenly hearing the door creak open behind me, I tensed up as a single presence entered the room. Frowning deeply, I could feel the hair on the back of my neck standing up, and knew we were in deep trouble. I know this one was different, somehow, from the others. More powerful, more vicious, or more evil…I wasn't sure. Maybe all three.

Spinning on the spot, I felt my heart leap into my throat as I came face to face with one of the Ghouls, only this one was bigger, and different. Instead of the milky white eyes the others had, this one had black voids that seemed to swallow you whole. It was like I could feel it's gaze piercing right through me, and it unnerved me. Also it's mouth was a lot bigger, filled with inhumanly long, jagged fangs that were coated in what looked like fresh blood. It wore dusty looking gold colored robes over it's decaying whitish flesh.

Letting out an inhuman screech, the creature took three shuffling steps closer, bringing it uncomfortably close to me.

"Bro, get out of there." Blake almost whispered.

Feeling rooted to the spot, I couldn't tear my gaze away from the eyes. It was like they oozed an evil aura that trapped me. I wasn't one to get scared easily, but I felt my heart pounding at the sight of this thing. I could barely breathe. Part of me wanted to run as far as I could, but there was the nagging sense that I couldn't. I had to stay and fight it. And I couldn't leave Blake.

"Hunter…" Blake's voice was a little louder, sounding almost panicked.

The creature then moved quicker than I'd expected. Swinging out an arm, it caught me in the side and I felt a sharp pain before the feeling like I was flying. I knew it had knocked me right off my feet, and my mind went blank as I hit a hard surface that I felt give way beneath the pressure.

The pain that shot up my back was unimaginable. I couldn't even cry out, it was so sudden and intense.

I felt my body hit the ground and bounce before sliding a bit and coming to a stop, but other than the searing pain, it all seemed far away. It was like I was seeing it all happen, but it wasn't happening to me.

"HUNTER!"

I heard Blake cry out and managed to move my arm a bit as I tried to sit up. Everything came back into focus, and was spinning as I struggled to understand what had happened, and tried to move. _I have to get to Blake._ I thought when my body refused to co-operate. Moving send spikes of pain down my spine, and spots appeared before my eyes as I struggled not to black out.

"Hunter! Talk to me! Answer-oof!" His statement was cut off but a choked sound before I heard a crash, and I knew that thing was after my bro.

Opening my mouth, all that came out was a pain, choked gasp and a cough. I could hear him breathing harshly as he scrambled and got back up, and kept wondering why I was having so much trouble.

Moving my arm, I touched my side where it burned, and winced, choking on a gasp as the searing pain renewed itself. Pulling it away, I raised it to my face and noticed the red stain on my palm. The _big _red stain. Even in the darkness it was easily visible. "Great." I muttered, finally managing to speak. Getting my arms under me, I slowly lifted myself up, stopping when everything spun, and closing my eyes.

In the background, I could make out Blake fighting whatever that thing was. But I could smell two scents of blood, mine and his, and knew he was hurt too. That and I could hear him panting heavily.

_I have to help him._ Slowly crawling into a sitting position, I called on my training as a ninja to ignore the pain the best I could, as I slowly stood up. _My bro needs me!_

Suddenly, I had this weird sense like I was shrinking. Everything spun heavily, and I closed my eyes. I could feel my bones changing in my body, not overly painful, but definitely uncomfortable, and the last thing I remembered was opening my mouth to say something, or maybe scream, and hearing a strange, inhuman squeak.

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Hahahaha, I know I'm evil. LOL! It was chapter length, I wanted to switch POVs, and there's something else I want to do before I forget. LOL. Don't worry, you'll find out what happened.

Hope you liked it.

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"You mean to tell me, some _trees_ are slowing you down?"

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R+R please.

Thank you

Tenshi


	36. More on the Island

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**Last Time**

_I have to help him._ Slowly crawling into a sitting position, I called on my training as a ninja to ignore the pain the best I could, as I slowly stood up. _My bro needs me!_

Suddenly, I had this weird sense like I was shrinking. Everything spun heavily, and I closed my eyes. I could feel my bones changing in my body, not overly painful, but definitely uncomfortable, and the last thing I remembered was opening my mouth to say something, or maybe scream, and hearing a strange, inhuman squeak.

**This time**

(On an Island, somewhere, Normal POV)

"What news?"

"Sir, we're having problems getting past the defenses." Zurgane stood at the forest edge, surrounded in the fallen bodies of the lizard folk who had been protecting the beaches.

The entire beach was littered with bodies. From the fallen and defeated lizard folk, to the fallen Kelzacks, and the many generals Lothor had managed to get to help him, who failed in their task. Still, there were a great many more of the evil army Lothor had managed to amass, and they were currently in the woods, trying to circumvent the next defenses.

Marah and Kapri looked at the beach in horror, confusion, pains and doubts written across their faces, but luckily for them, Lothor had been too busy to notice.

"And what are these new defenses?" Lothor asked dangerously, flexing his fingers as dark energy crackled around them. "More overgrown lizards?"

"No sir, strange trees. A lot of them."

Slowly raising his gaze, Lothor glared darkly at his general. "You mean to tell me, some _trees_ are slowing you down?" he asked quietly. "_Trees_!" Flinging his hand out, he hit Zurgane with a blast of dark energy before shaking his head and stomping towards the woods. "Incompetent fools! They can't even handle plants! Must I do everything myself?!"

Marah and Kapri looked uncertainly after Lothor as he stomped off.

"What should we do?" Marah asked softly, her eyes filled with confusion.

Kapri looked at her sister, torn between being the scornful sister she always was, and actually being nice. "I don't know." She answered quietly, understanding the expression on the younger girl's face. "I've never seen uncle this determined for anything." _Or this mean.._

"I don't want to be here." Biting her lip, Marah rubbed her arms as she looked at all the bodies littering the beach, and shuddered. "This is horrible!" Sure she knew they were supposed to be evil space ninjas, but there was a limit…wasn't there? Things had never been this bad before. She wanted Dustin.

Ever since her mission to betray him, to prove she wasn't the airhead everyone thought she was, she felt different. Looking at him, she no longer only saw the enemy, but a sweet, caring guy. What she wouldn't give to have him there with her now. Marah knew that if anyone could help her, help them, he could.

"What can we do?" Sighing, Kapri stepped towards the woods as she pulled out her sword. Looking over her shoulder at Marah, she gave her a sympathetic glance. "He's our uncle." Still, part of her longed to be far from here, to have never heard of this forbidden power. Almost faintly, Shane's face came to her mind, but she quickly dismissed it with a shake of her head.

Hesitating for only a moment, Marah nodded. "Yeah, he's family." _But so is Cam. Can't he help us?_ Trudging after her big sister, Marah withdrew her sword as well. _And why haven't the Rangers showed up to stop us?_

Unknown to her, the very same thought was playing out on the minds of Kapri and Lothor themselves. It was a strange thing when the Power Rangers weren't there, spouting off their mouths about good versus evil and how good would always triumph.

"Choobo." Lothor sauntered through the woods confidently, taking out remains of the first wave of defenses. "Where are the Power Punks? Why haven't they showed up yet?" _Not that I'm complaining, mind you, it's nice my plans are going to plan for once…_ Looking at yet more of his generals lying motionless on the ground, he sneered in disgust. _…Somewhat._

A rather chubby looking monster with glasses ran over and bowed deeply. "There's been no sign, sir."

"Yes, I've noticed." Looking around, his eyes fell to the fallen general. "Use one of the scrolls of revivals we have left on this mess. We may need them yet."

Scrolls of revival were very hard to find, and Lothor only had a few. Thus, why he rarely ever used them. They could revive an entire army, so why would he waste them on the single monsters or useless Kelzacks that the Power Rangers had beaten? Besides, if they were beaten once, it stood to reason they'd only be beaten again.

"And keep an eye out, I don't want those little pukes getting in the way!" Glaring at Choobo, he continued on, ignoring Vexacus completely as he went by.

_And I will just wait for them to show up and stop you. Then I'll take the power for myself and become unstoppable!_ Vexacus thought as he raised his sword and stomped off in another direction, contemplating his plans. _Unfortunately, to do that, those useless Power kids need to make it to this island. Well, I'll just have to see how things go for now._

"So?!" Finally finding a bunch of living monsters and Kelzacks standing around, Lothor snorted and growled. "What are you doing?! You should be fighting!"

"Sir."

"WHAT?!" Spinning on Zurgane, Lothor smelled an almost sickly sweet scent and frowned a moment.

"Well, this is what I meant." Zurgane offered weakly, pointing beyond all the monsters.

Ignoring the scent, he turned to see what all the fuss was about. Surely no simple trees could stop an evil army. Rolling his eyes to himself, Lothor snorted and raised an eyebrow. _Then again, six kids in colored spandex seem to be able to stop them just fine._ "So what am I supposed to be looking for?"

"You don't see them, sir?" Zurgane asked hesitantly, not wanting to get blasted again. Looking around, he found himself facing a scene of death that had obviously been going on for decades, if the bones and rotting bodies had anything to say about it. "Those trees, they are not normal."

Indeed, there were hundred if not thousands of corpses on the ground, both humanoid and animal alike. Some were many years old, being nothing but dried up bones that had been bleached white by all the years in the sun. Then there were newer ones, still yellowed and wearing tattered remains of clothing. Some still decayed, killed freshly from the army.

It was like acid had been poured on them. They grew thinner and thinner, then they began to decay as if having a flesh eating disease. Looking at them, it was hard to believe they had been living less than an hour ago.

The trees themselves were massive. They sat darkly, their branches full of brown leaves and black fruits and flowers. Their trunks were an almost blood red, no doubt, from all the blood they absorbed. And some had tentacles waving wildly around, as if warning others not to approach.

"See what, now? A bunch of trees and a bunch of my generals dead on the ground? What is this?!" Lothor looked around carefully, but other than dense forest and disgustingly 'beautiful' trees, he saw nothing unusual. Sneering, he shook his head. "What are you babbling about now? There's nothing here!" Growling in anger, he glaring at one of the trees and made a face before blasting it with his energy.

Immediately, everyone including him covered their ears as the tree let out an ear piercing screech and waved wildly. Tentacles burst up from the ground, curling around the corpses and throwing them in all directions, and some of the fruits were sent flying from the violent shaking of the tree itself.

The hallucination of there being nothing wrong faded quickly from Lothor's eyes as he saw the trees shake, and he suddenly knew why so many of his generals were dead. From the little he'd read of the Dragon Clan's information, that Zurgane and Vexacus had gathered, he remembered that there were many forms of defenses on this island. The lizard folk were one, then there were trees that ate flesh from the bones.

Caro Trees.

They were considered one of the most deadly because of the hallucinogen in the pollen they gave off.

After a few moments, the tree began to wither, deep red sap leaking from many pores in the trunk. The last of the fruits began to fall, the blossoms dried up and turned to dust, and the tentacles curled around the trunk, as if the tree were suffocating.

"Well, that's taken care of." He muttered as the screams died out and he slowly stood. Turning to Zurgane, he folded his arms across his chest. "And how hard was it to blast them from a distance?"

"Sir, we weren't sure if it would work. And so many of our generals and Kelzacks were still in the vicinity."

"So? Then blast them, too!"

"But wouldn't we need them for later, against other defenses?"

Glaring darkly at Zurgane, Lothor gathered a large amount of his energies. _I hate it when they're right._ Turning to the remaining trees, he lashed out and fried them all at once, covering his ears as the screeches echoed throughout the woods. "All taken care of." Looking at Zurgane, he gave him a warning look. "Don't question me again, or you will be next!"

Once Lothor has stomped a ways off, Zurgane's head dropped and he sighed. "I don't get paid enough for this." He muttered before trudging on. "Wait, I don't get paid at all!"

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I hope this wasn't too gory for people. Finally introduced to the Caro Trees, huh? Um, Caro is just a word that came to mind, so if you are wondering, I have no idea if it has a meaning, or what it is, LOL!

Hope you liked it.

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"Great, what now?"

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R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	37. Little Red Dragon Makes an Appearance

Ok bonus chapter time! I'm not replying to reviews in this chapter, but to **Jusea**'s comment about them being on the same island, No, they're not. They are very similar, the islands, but not the same.

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**Last Time**

Once Lothor has stomped a ways off, Zurgane's head dropped and he sighed. "I don't get paid enough for this." He muttered before trudging on. "Wait, I don't get paid at all!"

**This Time**

(With Hunter and Blake, Blake's POV)

When Hunter was knocked through the wall, I was shocked that the monster was so powerful. I'd seen it's claws dig into my bro's side and draw blood, and I watched helplessly as Hunter crashed right through the stone wall, and didn't get up.

That made me frown. Sure the attack was powerful, but as Rangers he still should have been able to get up again, unless…the wound was worse than it looked.

Immediately, I felt my blood run cold. _What if he's hurt really bad? Or knocked out and more monsters come at us?!_

Dodging an attack, I held my stomach and glared at the thing I was trying to fend off. He'd already managed to score one hit on me, and I couldn't afford to let him get another. This wasn't a game. If I went down, it was the end, no restart. "You're gonna pay for that!" I hissed angrily as I ducked under it's arm. _I can't go down! I have to protect my bro!_ Swinging my fist at it, I felt a pain run up my hand when it felt like I hit a concrete wall. The weird zombie staggered back a foot as I waved my hand wildly, but then advanced again.

Jumping forward, I flipped over the top of the dresser and windmill kicked it before landing in a crouch and sweeping my leg out to knock it off it's feet. It landed hard on the ground, but immediately got back up again, as if none of my attacks worked.

"Great, what now?" I groaned in frustration as I glanced quickly to where Hunter's form lay.

Only it wasn't there.

"Hunter?!" I called, hoping he was alright and not knowing what to expect. "Bro!" Seeing an incoming set of claws, I ducked as my eyes widened, and I ran past the monster to the door, standing with my back a few feet from the wall and quickly scanning the room.

_Dresser, broken remains of bed, broken debris from the ceiling_… Lashing out, I hit the creature with my thunder energies, but it just seemed to bounce off him. _Open door, I really need to shut that. Hole in the ceiling, broken window…_ I ran forward and leveled a series of punches at the zombie's head. _Hole in the wall… Guess this room's not so 'safe' anymore. Little red dragon…_

Stopping a moment, I could clearly hear a low growl. And when I say low, I mean sounding like a lion cub trying to roar. _Wait…_ "Little red dragon?" I questioned in confusion, noticing how the monster stopped as well. My eyes darted to the little creature, and I raised an eyebrow as it glared as dangerously as a _baby_ dragon could, at the zombie.

It was about the size of a large cat, or small dog. A deep ruby red, with glistening scales that seemed to shine with an inner light, in the dark room. It's eyes were a bright, piercing blue, and almost seemed to glow as well. It's wings were widely mantled, showing it obviously was not happy, and it was baring it's tiny fangs at the zombie I was trying to fight.

Part of me wanted to laugh. It seemed so absurd that a little dragon would try to take on a big monster. But then, it also kind of reminded me of Hunter's attitude. If he felt threatened, or that I was threatened, he'd fight anything or anyone.

"Hunter." I mumbled, being instantly reminded of my missing, injured brother. "Hunter!"

The zombie swung back to face me and I stumbled back as I clumsily dodged under it's claws. Falling on my butt, I stared up at it, trying to think quickly. Try to counter, dodge, or get up and run to the other side of the room?

There was a snarl and a bright flash of light. Squinting at the sudden flare, I saw a stream of fire seem to come out of the sky and hit the monster.

It was set ablaze in seconds, screaming and writhing in agony as it struggled to put the flames out, but it's dry skin and dried robes provided the perfect kindling to fuel the fire. It didn't take long before it stopped fighting and collapsed to the ground, instantly turning to dust as the last remains of the fire went out.

"Whoa." Looking around, my eyes landed on the dragon. Looking at it a moment, I saw it's big blue eyes trained on me. Still, I looked carefully around the room, but with my heightened senses, quickly knew we were the only ones around. Turning back, I took a good close look at my only room companion. There was something…familiar about it.

_It couldn't be…could it?_ Scanning it's body, I saw a still freshly bleeding wound on it's side, obviously from claw marks. It's eyes showed hints of it's pain, but they were still focused on me, filled with…was that concern? "…Hunter?"

I know, it seemed crazy, but I couldn't shaking this _feeling_ that I just knew it was him!

Taking a careful step forward, it's eyes suddenly dropped, and it collapsed on the ground. It let out a little huff before it's eyes closed all the way and it stopped moving.

_Oh no!_ "Hunter!" Practically lunging from my spot, my eyes darted again to the hole in the wall. _Wait, what if I'm wrong?_ Either way, if Hunter wasn't there, it meant he was this dragon, or he was up and walking around. This dragon just helped me, and was out cold, bleeding, on the ground. _I hope I'm making the right decision._ Following my instincts, I very carefully untied my dried, and stiff from sweat t-shirt, and began twisting and turning it in my hands to work out the stiff parts. Then I wrapped it around the wound on the dragon's side ignoring but flinching at the pained whine and tied it around it's waist, tightly enough to stay in place.

Then I carefully picked it up. It was actually kind of neat, holding a little dragon. If I was careful about the wings, I could settle it comfortably in my arms, and carry it no problem. It's scales were smooth, much like a snake's, and it's body was warm, almost like it was overheated.

"Well, now what?" I looked to the door and frowned in confusion. "I could go looking around, but what if there are more of those things?" With a shake of my head, I gave a bit of a dry laugh and looked at all the holes in the walls and ceiling, reminding myself this place wasn't really that safe at the moment. "Ok, first things first." _Need a torch._

Putting the little dragon carefully down on a pile of sheets left over from the bed, I grabbed some loose ones. Then I grabbed a leg that was broken off from the bed and tied them around one end. "This won't do for long. The rags will burn fast and the stick will burn down in no time." Still, it was the only thing I had. Taking the lighter, I lit the torch and set it carefully leaning against some debris before picking up the little dragon again. _I won't be able to protect myself, so I'd better be careful_.

Going to the door with the torch and dragon, I carefully looked out. One way, there was one of those Coeurl things Kendra spoke about, but it's back was to us and it was in the opposite direction of where I wanted to go. The other side, there were two Ghouls, but they too were walking away, on the other side of the stairs. _If I'm quiet and fast…_ Checking all around me, I quickly ducked out of the doorway, hearing a tiny squeak when I jostled the little dragon. Immediately, I jumped back again and checked on it.

Still out cold, but my arm was pressed against it's side. Carefully, shifting my hold, I looked again. _Need to be careful not to jostle him._

They were even farther, but the Coeurl was closing towards some debris blocking the path and would turn around soon.

I dashed out quickly, hoping the stairs were free, and made it to the top of them. Very carefully, I started down, my heart pounding almost painfully in my chest as I tried to be as silent and careful as I could. I must have made it half way before another Coeurl stopped at the bottom and began sniffing.

Now I didn't know what senses were good and what ones weren't so good, but seeing that cat there, I stopped immediately and held as still as I could. I barely even breathed, not wanting to catch it's attention.

This one was different from the one we'd seen earlier. It was a tan color, obviously alive, and had tentacles growing from it's shoulder blades. Still, it didn't seem to hear or smell us, and when it gazed up towards us, it just sniffed a moment before sneezing, turning and walking on.

_Too close. Way too close!_ _They must be pretty much blind._ Knowing that could work in my favor, I carefully filed that bit of information away for later use.

I quickly made it to the bottom of the stairs and ducked down into a crouching position. Peeking my head out of the corner, I noted my hand was getting warmer, meaning the torch was burning down.

There were three doors. Two Ghouls came out of one, where I heard a pained, inhuman scream and saw flickers of light. Knowing there was nothing supposed to be alive or humanoid around us, I swallowed heavily and looked at the other doors. _K, not that one._ One was open slightly, the room beyond dark and possibly filled with monsters. The other was closed, but broken. The way it was sitting, I knew there'd be no getting it open. _And not that one. Two doors down…_

Checking the hall, I saw numerous Coeurls and Ghouls. Three Ghouls jumped on two Coeurls a little ways away and began tearing into them, and two other Coeurls jumped away, immediately making a wide trip around the hungry Ghouls and continuing away.

Then there were about four Ghouls on the other side, no Coeurls, nothing to distract them. Thinking for a moment, I carefully put the remains of the torch down and picked up a stone. Turning to carefully lean a little out over the railing, I threw it as far behind them as I could and watched as they all turned and began shuffling towards where it bounced off a wall.

There were growls, and I turned to find the two Coeurls across the way glaring at me. Not the stone I'd thrown, _me_. Feeling my still pounding heart skip a beat, I quickly grabbed the torch and took a deep breath before dashing towards the door, through it, and slamming it closed with my back to it. "They must've seen me when I moved." I muttered quietly.

Unfortunately, the torch hit the ground and finally burned right out. I was left in pitch black.

Slowly turning my head, I could make out shapes in the darkness, but that was about it. Nothing seemed to be moving, but with one hand full of unconscious dragon, that didn't reassure me. Digging into the pocket of my jeans, I pulled out the lighter and lit it.

In the faint flame, and dull light that echoed forth, I could make out an old dresser and dusty, ratty looking bed. _This place must be like a hotel or something. There are so many rooms._ I thought as I carefully moved away from the door. Gently placing the dragon down, I turned and found a small but sturdy looking table near the door and shrugged before going over, putting out the lighter, and pushing it in front of the door.

Then, using my thunder powers to conserve the lighter fluid, I took a better look around. One window, the glass still intact. No holes in the ceiling or walls. This room was even safer than the last. There was also an old oil lantern on top of another table, and I used the lighter to light it.

"Oh yeah." Rubbing my stomach gingerly, I grimaced a little and looked worriedly at the little red dragon. "Cause the last room was just _so _safe." With a sigh, I walked over and gently took the covers, thankful when they held together. Placing them over the dragon, I leaned against the headboard and allowed myself to relax, letting go of the energy and waiting for my eyes to get as adjusted to the dark as possible.

_Not much time left and who knows how far yet to go._

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The idea of Ghouls is taken from Diablo 2, the PC game. There were several different types of undead monsters, each stronger than the last. Zombies, Ghosts, Ghouls, Ghasts, Gaunts, Mummies, and more. Then, Coeurls are taken from Final Fantasy.

You'll most definitely see/or have seen monsters from Final Fantasy, Diablo, Silent Hill, Basic Greek Mythology, possibly The Descent, possibly Slither, possibly Breath of Fire, and more. I know I have stated this before, but I'm not sure what ones I mentioned and what ones I missed.

Thank you **GinaStar** for mentioning the Cerberus. That's a very neat idea. :)

Also Caro trees, the name was made up, but the idea came from a story I read years ago (as in a novel, not fan fiction story). Lizard folk comes from a series I used to watch, one episode listed a bunch of lizard people in robes, who were sentient, aka, had smart, humanoid minds.

Ahh, the appearance of the little dragon. Hope you liked it.

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"What do you know of the extinct monsters? The ones that just seemed to vanish?"

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R+R please

Thank you.

Tenshi


	38. Reunited, FINALLY!

**BlueDolphinz** - Yeah, it hit me last minute to put the 'I don't get paid at all!' in, and it seemed like a Zurgane thing to say. LOL, Hunter's the main character, I wouldn't turn him into a Zombie. Besides, Zombie Hunter? Not so cute. LOL. I'll turn him into a baby dragon, or a human with dragon wings, but not a zombie. LOL! Glad it helped :) Thanks for the idea.

**Pinklen98** - Hahaha! I wanted just that point. Hunter's jealous that Kendra didn't come to him, but doesn't want to show it, and doesn't really realize it. LOL And yes, yes, those are the man eating trees. There's an image, huh? Lothor gets killed by a Caro Tree, the Rangers go to defeat him only to find thir job done and stand there not really sure what to say or do. LOL! Oh, they'll both turn into baby dragons at some point. LOL. Just imagine, this adorable little baby dragon that has crystal clear blue eyes, or dark honey eyes, that acts like a cat. Stretches, purrs, groans, huffs, glares, snickers, curls up in a ball to sleep, and so much more.

**GinaStar** - I love the Dragons, generally. They're adorable, but have it in them to be dangerous... Hm... Kind of like the Bradleys... :P LOL

**JuseaPeterson** - LOL Yeap, I don't know what to say to this review because you got it all down. LOL It's Hunter. He wouldn't give up on Blake and of course he's not going to miss a chance to tease his little brother! LOL.Ok, so I cleared up about the island, it's similar but not the same. I was looking for something a little different, so I ended up going a little more into Kapri and Marah's heads, too. Their thoughts on what's going on. Um... Well, Lothor DID blast Zurgane, but not severely! LOL.

Hahahaha! I'm so evil! LOL Of course I wouldn't give it away so easily! LOL. I wanted Blake to be more wary, you know. I think he'd be more terrified for his brother, and the obvious would pass right by him in his worry. I don't know what it is, but ever since I came across the idea of Dragon Clan Thunder Brothers, it's been so stuck in my head. Whenever I day dream to help me relax, or think up more story ideas, it's now always about the Dragon Clan.

Hey, I'm even coming up with ideas of SENSEI Hunter Bradley, after the series, as a secretive Dragon Clan. His brother, the Rangers, Leanne, Sensei Amino and Sensei Watanabi all know, but no one else, until a student comes upon either him transforming, or an adorable little dragon that's injured and needs help.

But again, my mind is also on Stargate and Stargate Atlantis. I currently have written a couple very short one-shots that I thought were cute (but I haven't posted them).

OK, so this is an early update, because I have a busy week ahead of me. I didn't want to forget to post, so I thought I'd get it done ahead of time. Thanks for your reviews and glad you like this. Enjoy!

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**Last Time**

"Oh yeah." Rubbing my stomach gingerly, I grimaced a little and looked worriedly at the little red dragon. "Cause the last room was just _so _safe." With a sigh, I walked over and gently took the covers, thankful when they held together. Placing them over the dragon, I leaned against the headboard and allowed myself to relax, letting go of the energy and waiting for my eyes to get as adjusted to the dark as possible.

_Not much time left and who knows how far yet to go._

**This Time**

(With the others, Kendra's POV)

"You're sure they're ok?" Tori asked for what seemed like the millionth time that day. "I mean, who knows what else they've run into?"

"Do you really have so little faith in them?" Carly challenged in irritation. "I know you're worried, but trust them to know what they're doing."

With a sigh, I looked out over yet another storm outside. In this part of the woods, it was rarely ever sunny, so storms were a usual thing for me, but today my mind just wasn't on it. When I'd seen Hunter, he was blind. When I saw Blake, he was cut, and I know Hunter was, too. Like Tori said, who knew what else they'd run into? I didn't even know the Coeurls were still around.

But, did that mean that other supposedly extinct creatures still existed?

"Carly." I finally spoke up, causing everyone to go silent. "What do you know of the extinct monsters? The ones that just seemed to vanish?"

Frowning deeply, she shrugged. "I don't know, why do you ask?"

"Because Blake mentioned running into a zombie version of a Coeurl." I told her grimly. "Which means that one of the Ghouls bit it, and it got away and turned. But Coeurls in general are supposed to be extinct, and I was thinking, if they're obviously still around…"

"What's to keep others from still existing?" she finished in shock. "Like the Cerberus, you mean?"

I had a bad feeling about this task. I'd had it all along, but now it was worse. "The Guardian of the path. If it's still around…"

Looking to the confused Rangers, Carly sighed and looked about as worried as I felt. I also noticed Tori's gaze get more afraid upon seeing that. "Cerberus is the guardian of the path they have to go through. Or, was. It's supposedly long extinct, but if Kendra's theory is right, it could very well just be in hiding."

"It's impervious to most elemental powers, so their ninja powers and dragon elements very likely won't help them." I continued. "It's also very strong and very fast."

"So, you're saying they could be in trouble?" Dustin asked in confusion. "Dude, why are we still sitting here, then?"

"This is their task, if we interrupt it, they'll fail." Carly muttered quietly.

Standing up, I gave her a pointed look. "From what I saw, they were already getting used to their newer senses. Mission accomplished, right?" She still hesitated and I crossed my arms over my chest. "Look, if they die, mission failed. Which would you rather it be?"

I knew that would get her. Immediately, she was standing with her eyes closed, by the edge of the cliff. Muttering a few words, she held her hand out and moved a single finger in an intricate pattern in the air, green energy flowing through her as she did so. Another green portal appeared, but instead of leading to the beach, where she'd let the boys off, this one led to a heavily misty wasteland with old stone ruins.

"Wow, it's been a few years since I last saw this place." I muttered quietly to myself, noticing that there was no mist last time I was there. There should have been green grassy fields, with lots of wild flowers. Instead, it looked like the entire place had just up and died. "It's changed." _Massively._

"They won't be far when we cross-"

"Wait, _we_??" Cam questioned with a raised eyebrow. "We can handle this."

"Oh, so you suddenly know where all the monsters are." Carly stated as she stalked forward, her spell complete and waiting for us. "You know everything we're going to face? All their quirks and weaknesses? You know where the place is they're staying? Can you sense their presence?"

"Carly!" I scolded. "Look, we're going. You can't stop us, so don't bother trying." I plainly told the Rangers with a pointed look before I turned and stomped right through the portal. When I got to the other side, I turned and waited for the others. I could clearly smell the last remaining scent of blood and burning flesh, and knew we probably wouldn't run into many Ghosts.

That's what the monsters out here were. More or less like Ghosts of their former selves, and as far as strength, they had some sort of resistance to elemental powers, and physical seemed not to work so well, but otherwise…well, compared to a lot of other monsters here, they were weak.

It didn't take them long before they approached. Carly looked peeved, no doubt at their stubborn insistence. And the Rangers themselves looked disturbed as they stepped through the portal.

I couldn't help but giggle. I knew that for them, it was an unusual experience, stepping through an energy portal like that. It felt almost like…well, walking through water.

"So? Where to now?" Shane asked, looking creeped as the portal disappeared. "And uh, how do we get back?"

"Well, I open another portal when we're ready." Carly stated completely seriously. "As for where next…" Closing her eyes, she seemed to be concentrating. "I'm not sensing their presence, they haven't been here in a while."

I nodded and looked around. "Well, there's really only two directions they could have gone in, but they're in a building and that eliminates one." Turning to where the nearest buildings were, I used my enhanced sight to look at them from where I stood.

I could clearly see two buildings, either one of which would have made a good hiding place. One had closed doors, and most of the windows were relatively intact, and I couldn't get a sense from either building. Not to mention, I never had to get the Eye, so I didn't know which of the buildings had the opening to the path.

"Carly, which building is the path under?"

Frowning, she looked in the same direction. "The one on the left, and if you really concentrate, you can pick up a faint smell of blood and decayed flesh." She made a face and stuck her tongue out.

_Blood?_ Immediately, I took off towards the building, being beyond worried about the boys. Who knew how many Coeurls and Ghouls were in the building? Who knew if there was something more there? As I neared an open window, the smell of blood seemed to heighten and I recognized it as human. That meant Blake or Hunter were hurt, maybe badly.

Once I reached the window, I carefully leaned in and looked around the rooms. The skeletal remains of a Ghast lay on the ground, blowing away into dust as I watched, and there were obvious scorch marks.

"Ok, the lighter _couldn't_ have done that kind of damage!" Carly exclaimed from behind me.

Turning to her, I raised an eyebrow. "Gee, you think?" I questioned sarcastically, before sighing. "I smell human blood." _A lot of it. _"One of them is hurt." Turning back to the window, I hiked up my skirts, beginning to really get tired of the whole gown thing by now, and braced myself on the ledge, noting that the glass was cleared away. Once I was in, I very carefully looked around.

A hole in the ceiling, little tufts of dust and dirt showed it was an old hole. Then there was a hole in the wall. I could sense a fading heat signature, as well as spotting a small puddle of blood on the ground beyond. Luckily, it was still fairly dark out, and the Rangers likely wouldn't notice it. I didn't want them panicking when being calm may be our best bet at the moment.

"I don't like the looks of this." Tori muttered worriedly. "Look, the door's open."

Following everyone's gaze, I smelled burning cloth and wood, and that the scent went passed the door, into the hallway. "We better check it out, but be careful. Who knows what kind of monsters are beyond?"

"Besides zombie Ghouls and Curls and things?" Shane added with a look.

"Coeurls." I corrected absently.

We carefully made our way to the door, only to be ambushed by two Coeurls, and a couple of Ghouls. Working together, they didn't last long against us though, and I stepped out into the hallway.

_There…_ Smelling a trail of blood leading down to the floor below, and a faint heat trail as well, I followed it quietly, fully aware the others would follow me. I made it to the top of the stairs and heard growling and raspy moans from below. _Not good._ "There must be a small group just down at the bottom of the stairs." I stated to the others. Frowning for a moment, I thought fast. "Fire's our best bet against the Ghouls, but we don't have that…"

"But we have a girl with a lighter." Carly stated with a grin, holding up a metal lighter.

I couldn't help raise my eyebrows. "What is it with you and metal lighters? Are you trying to get a collection going or something?" I asked incredulously. Then, shaking my head, I sighed. "Not like we have much choice."

"Why don't we just morph, like we did with that corrupted dragon before?" Tori asked the others with a look.

Shrugging, the others nodded and stood back.

_Um, should I tell them…?_ I wondered for a moment before pushing the thought aside. _Nah, they're about to find out anyways._

"Ninja Storm!" Tori, Shane and Dustin called out in sync.

"Samurai Storm!" Cam called out, whipping his necklace from his neck.

"Ranger Form! Ha!" They called together, taking their final stances.

They held them for a moment, but nothing happened and they looked at their wrist morphers, or in Cam's case, his hand held, softball-sized morpher in confusion.

"Nothing happened." Tori muttered with a frown. Looking to Cam, her look of worry grew. "What's going on?"

"It's this place." I told them quietly, carefully keeping an eye out for any dangers. "There's an energy in the air that interferes with everything."

"So we're not going to be able to morph." Shane muttered. "We'd better come up with another idea, and fast."

"Use your powers. Dustin, you're the Yellow Wind Ranger." I spoke out, thinking as quickly as I could, while still being worried about the boys. "Yellow is earth, right?"

He nodded quietly.

"Ok, so we have broken debris and such around here. You can use your powers to hit them with it, or open up sink holes and stuff." Next I looked to Shane. "And you're Red. That's air. So you can use the force of the wind to make them stumble back, and to throw smaller debris at them."

"And Tori's water." Carly added. "She can use her powers to soak the floor and make it slippery for them. Or find a dirt patch and turn it to mud, which would help us by blinding the enemies. Or just plain hit them with a water bomb."

"Basically, play to our strengths as ninjas." Cam finished thoughtfully. "The three of us can fight them hand-to-hand."

"If we really have to, but the more time we spend fighting them, the more time we lose, getting to Blake and Hunter." I pointed out. "They're close, I can smell the blood stronger, and the heat trail isn't that old here. But we'd better hurry, who knows what condition they're in."

Nodding, the group of us headed down the stairs. Like I'd guessed, there were multiple Coeurls and Ghouls in front of a single closed door, and I could sense Blake and Hunter on the other side. But…There was something wrong. Hunter's scent wasn't as human as it should have been, and it was weaker, stained with blood.

_Looks like I finally figured out who's hurt._ I thought grimly, feeling my heart ache in worry. _I knew this was a bad idea from the start, why'd I go with it??_

"So what now, there's an awful lot of those guys." Dustin muttered with a face, making a disgusted face at one of the zombified Coeurls.

"Maybe one of us can distract them?" I asked quietly.

We all thought on it a moment before Tori nodded. "I know we're not supposed to use our powers unless we have to, but I think now kind of counts as 'have to'." Turning, she zipped away in a flash of light blue energy. A moment later and her voice called out from across the room. "Hey uglies! Over here!"

The monsters all spun to face her, standing across the path from them. We were hiding, so they had no idea we were here. Quickly, they began shuffling towards her, the Coeurls running, but before any of them could reach her, she disappeared again and reappeared next to me.

"Ok, it's now or never." She whispered.

"You so have to teach me how to do that." I muttered back. Facing the door, I held up a hand and quietly snuck over. I grabbed the knob and turned, relieved the door was unlocked, but when I pushed it, it stuck. "What?" Pushing again, I heard something on the other side of the door scrap across the floor, and the creaky movements of rusty metal joints. "Blake?!" I hissed as loudly as I dared, marveling that the Ghouls and Coeurls hadn't seen me yet. "Hunter!? Are you guys there??"

There was the sound of footsteps on the other side of the door, and I faintly smelled the blood stronger.

"Who's there?" A quiet hiss came back.

"Blake!" Sighing in relief, I smiled a bit. "Backup's here."

"Back-wait… Kendra?"

"Yeah, come on! We can play the guessing game later, let us in!"

"Us?" I heard the squeaking movements on the other side of the door and knew he was moving whatever was on the other side.

Frowning, I turned and dashed behind the stairs, having no idea how long it would take him and not wanting to be out in the open if the monsters happened to look back. Sure enough, I'd just managed to pull my skirt into hiding when one of the Coeurls turned back. It sniffed at the air a bit before turning blindly back towards the direction Tori had been.

"We need to keep them distracted." I muttered to the others. "Shane, can you use your wind powers to throw a rock against the far wall?" I asked, pointing to a farther point along the path.

He nodded quietly and performed a few hand movements before closing his eyes and concentrating. A rock slowly and shakily rose from the air, but immediately I noticed a faint electrical aura around Shane. Whatever was in the air around the cavern, which I had always sensed, was stronger here. And whatever it was, it seemed to not only interfere with their morphers, but also their powers.

Still, he frowned deeply and seemed to sink deeper into concentration, and the rock rose higher. A moment later and it whipped across the room, hitting the far wall with an echoing thud, and causing the group of monsters to rush farther along the path.

Unfortunately, it also disturbed an even larger group on the far side, that had been hidden behind a wall.

"Pleasant." I muttered sarcastically. "Let's hope we can avoid them all together."

Hearing the doorknob turn, I spun back to the door as it opened, and watched as a rather battered looking Blake stuck his head out. "Here!" I hissed, moving quickly from my hiding spot. Carefully taking his shoulders, since I noticed him favoring his chest and stomach, I gently pushed him back into the room as the others jumped out of hiding and followed me in.

Blake!" Tori cried, practically jumping on him.

"Ah! Tori!" He cried out as she hugged him tightly, her arms around his waist. Choking in obvious agony, he returned her hug briefly before pushing her to arms length and taking a few deep, careful breaths.

Giving him a sheepish, pained and apologetic look, Tori gingerly took his arms to help brace him a little.

After watching Shane and Cam push the small dresser back in front of the door, I turned to Blake and frowned deeply as my eyes passed him and scanned the room. _Quiet, safe. One small window, too small for monsters but large enough to give some light when the sun comes up. No holes in the walls or ceiling, and a sturdy door that's blocked. _"Where's Hunter?" I asked, smelling the strong scent of his blood practically flooding the room.

"Well, you see, that's the thing." Blake muttered, frowning in worry. He pointed to a small lump on the old, rusty bed, and leaned against the wall, trying to ignore the pain he was in.

I walked over to the bed, and carefully reached down, laying my hand very lightly on the lump. Immediately, I noticed a faint movement, and the warmth it gave off. _He changed? So soon? It must be bad._ I thought as I carefully unwrapped his form and looked him over. It might not have been the time or place, but I was instantly struck with the thought of how cute he looked, curled up in a ball with his snout buried under his tail, but I immediately pushed that thought back as my eyes settled on the deep gashes on his side, from claw marks.

_Not good, but not as bad as I thought, either._

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Um, LOL, sorry about the very long chapter? LOL! Well, I got carried away. I had no idea where to switch POVs so… But next chapter will be in Blake's POV.

Hope you like it.

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"Will he be ok?"

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R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	39. Explanations

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**Last Time**

I walked over to the bed, and carefully reached down, laying my hand very lightly on the lump. Immediately, I noticed a faint movement, and the warmth it gave off. _He changed? So soon? It must be bad._ I thought as I carefully unwrapped his form and looked him over. It might not have been the time or place, but I was instantly struck with the thought of how cute he looked, curled up in a ball with his snout buried under his tail, but I immediately pushed that thought back as my eyes settled on the deep gashes on his side, from claw marks.

_Not good, but not as bad as I thought, either._

**This Time**

(Blake's POV)

"Don't worry bro." I muttered to the dragon. "We'll get out of this somehow." …_I hope._

Hearing the sound of a tiny thud, and what I could have sworn was a female voice, I frowned and tried to concentrate on it, but it faded and I was left wondering if I was starting to hear things.

I mean, it sounded like Tori. But she was back in the cave with Kendra, so it couldn't have been her.

Looking to Hunter, I couldn't help the tiny smirk that touched the corners of my mouth. "I kinda wish Kendra was here, right about now. She'd have useful advice, or a smart-aleck comment, and she'd be able to heal you."

There was a strange sound outside the door, and I frowned as I listened carefully. The scratching and moaning was fading, almost as if it was moving away. Then, I heard this…_swishing _sound, like a soft fabric across the floor.

"Blake??" an all too familiar voice called quietly.

_No way!_ I thought in denial, thinking I was losing it. I'm not dreaming, right? So how can she be here? As quietly as I possibly could, I slowly stood up, wincing as the metal joints on the bed creaked with movement.

"Hunter!? Are you guys there?"

It was Kendra. But how and why was she here? I was fairly certain I hadn't fallen asleep. I made my way to the door, still not able to see too clearly, and placed my hands against it. Leaning over the dresser, I was careful not to disturb my bruised stomach. "Who's there?" I hissed quietly.

"Blake! Backup's here!"

_Huh?_ "Back-wait…" Was it really her? But why was she here, and what did she mean 'backup's here'? "Kendra?"

"Yeah, come on! We can play the guessing game later, let us in!" she called back urgently, reminding me to the fact that there were monsters out there.

_Oh, right._ Glancing briefly to the ball of sheets and scales on the bed, I hesitated a split second. Then, something she said, hit me. '_Us'?_ "Us?" I repeated verbally as I went to the far side of the small dresser and began moving it out of the way. Did she mean her and Carly? Or her and the others? _Tori's here? Maybe I really did hear her voice…_ I thought distractedly as I pushed a little harder, wincing from the strain on my stomach.

I heard another thud, but this one was fainter, and I'd swear it sounded like stone on stone. Shaking my head, I quickly opened the door, only to find the hallways empty. But then Kendra's head popped up from the same place Hunter and I had hidden earlier.

"Here!" she hissed as she raced out of the hiding spot and towards me. Taking a single moment to look at me, she seemed to sigh and grabbed my shoulder, carefully pushing me back into the room.

Next thing I know, I heard Tori's voice, calling my name.

"Blake!"

I was torn between being worried that she was here, and just being happy she was alright and I could see her again. I started to smile, wanting to say something, then I felt her arms wrap tightly around my stomach and hissed in pain, before it turned into a cry. "Ah! Tori!" As beyond happy as I was to have her in my arms, to know she was so worried, I was also in massive agony. And after returning a shorter than I would have liked hug, I gently pushed her away, trying to breathe as gingerly as I could, due to the pain that was searing through me.

I also almost winced in pain when I saw the apologetic look on her face.

"Where's Hunter?" Kendra asked in worry, her face etched in more concern than I'd expected. Looking at me, I knew she knew he was hurt.

"Well, you see, that's the thing." I offered weakly, pointing to the small bundle on the bed. I was still kind of torn about that little dragon. It seemed beyond a sure thing that, that was Hunter, but at the same time, I felt so confused seeing him like that. Then again, seeing Kendra's dragon form, it did make a lot of sense.

With a frown, she gently touched the lump on the bed, her look almost thoughtful. Then she carefully removed the blankets, and I'd swear her eyes narrowed. I was surprised when she didn't say anything, but gingerly laid her hand on his side, and it glowed.

I knew he'd be all right then, and felt majorly relieved. Leaning against the wall, I tried to relax, still feeling like I was in massive pain, but at the same time, so drained. "So, how'd you guys get here, and why're you here?" I asked curiously, trying to stay awake. "I mean, I thought this was our mission."

Kendra sighed a moment in the dark room before covering Hunter up again and coming over to me. "Well, when you mentioned the Coeurls, it brought to mind many other monsters that were supposedly extinct. It made me question if they were really gone, or possibly just in hiding."

"And when she mentioned it, it made a lot of sense and I got worried." Carly finished.

"Yeah and you still hesitated." Cam stated grimly, glaring at her. "You were more worried about their mission then them themselves."

Glaring right back, she got up in his face. "And? Do you have a point? Yes, I hesitated. You probably would have done the same in my position. I mean, think about it. You think that these monsters _might_ be alive still, there's no guarantee. And what if they hadn't finished adapting to their newer senses? Hm…? Then we'd have disrupted their task, and put themselves and us all, in danger. Don't you dare tell me you'd not hesitate!"

"Enough!" Kendra ordered firmly, glaring at them both. "We have an exhausted dragon trying to sleep through your fight, a nearing exhausted dragon clan also trying to relax, and you've probably alerted every last monster in a fifty-foot radius that we're here. Are you two about done whining already? You can argue like a married couple, later." She scolded.

Both Carly and Cam stared at her silently for a moment, but I got the distinct impression they were blushing. Then, without a word, they both glared at each other a little longer before turning away.

With that being said, Kendra turned to me and placed her hand gently on my chest before closing her eyes and healing me. Even after having gone through it a couple of times already, the sensation was still an awkward one to get used to. Sometimes it seemed hot, others it seemed cold, but the tingling flow of power through me was always the same.

"We can't stay here." Cam put in after a moment. "Who knows what else is in this building?"

"Well bigger things than Ghouls and Coeurls." I answered grimly, looking to Kendra and Carly. "There was this thing, like a Ghoul, but it was bigger and stronger." Seeing that they both looked worried and confused, I continued with what I remembered. "It didn't have those weird milky white eyes, either. It's eyes were big, freaky black holes."

Turning to Kendra, Carly frowned. "Ghast. Supposedly extinct as well." Turning to me, she raised an eyebrow. "They've been known to paralyze dragon clan members, simply with the power of their eyes. They used to be Windian Elders."

"Well, let's hope we don't run into any more of them." Shane muttered with a frown. "But Cam's right, we can't stay here."

Kendra turned to me a moment before turning to the bed and picking Hunter up. Holding him carefully, she turned back. "Ok, this idea crossed my mind before, but I didn't say anything because we didn't have a thunder ninja with us." She muttered, looking at the others. "Tori can soak her enemies with her water energy, and Blake can electrocute them with his thunder. It should be more than powerful enough to take down the Ghouls and Coeurls."

"And Ghasts? Or this Cerberus?" Cam asked.

Looking away for a moment, Kendra seemed to think about it. "The path is the quickest way out of here without dealing with a lot of monsters, but Cerberus might very well lay in waiting. It's relatively monster free otherwise, but I don't know about Ghasts."

"And the powers likely won't be enough for Ghasts, and don't forget, we mentioned that Cerberus is immune to most elemental powers." Carly finished.

Frowning a moment, I crossed my arms over my chest. "Cerberus?"

"A big dog, basically." Carly said grimly. "A very big, very nasty dog."

"Ok, so let's try to avoid as many of these monsters as we can." Tori put in before anyone could say anything else. "Lets just try to get back to the cave in one piece, ok?"

"Yeah, dudes, like… I have a race tomorrow." Dustin finally added, earning him a light smack on the head from Shane.

"The world could be in danger, and you're thinking about a race." Cam stated incredulously. Shaking his head, he held up one hand. "Never mind, I don't want to know. Let's just focus on getting out of here, like Tori said."

"Ok, so Kendra stated the path was the quickly way. Carly, can't you just portal us out of here?" Shane asked with a frown.

She shook her head and sighed. "The energy that interfered with your morphing thing is stronger here, since we're closer to the target. It's now even too powerful for me, we have to either get back to where we started, or take the path to the Minotaur's Glade."

"So the path it is." I muttered, looking at Hunter resting peacefully in Kendra's arms. "Will he be ok?"

Glancing down at the little dragon she nodded. "He should be. He's just resting now, and he'll be able to turn back when he wakes up." Pausing a moment, she made a face. "Well, once he figures out how."

"And how does he change back?" I questioned curiously, wondering if the change was painful at all.

"Well, the same way he changes into dragon form. It's pretty simple, and for the most part, controllable. First of all, he imagines his own image, as if he's looking into a mirror. He has to get the image as exact as possible in his mind, then he needs to focus himself into it." Pursing her lips, she distractedly ran her free hand along his back, down between his wings, along his spine. "Think of the image as a shell. It's hollow on the inside. Then think of your current body like an energy, or liquid. You pour yourself into the shell and fill it. You'll feel the changes happening, and when you're done, you'll be a dragon or human. You can also change your size, too. Well, for dragons, anyways."

"You said 'for the most part' controllable, what do you mean?" Tori questioned in worry, standing close to Blake.

Exchanging a look with Carly, Kendra seemed to pause a moment, and Carly took over.

"Basically, one of the downsides to being Dragon Clan, is there are times when you can't control your changes. If you get extremely angry or protective, you could transform out of a literally overwhelming sense that you need to protect the person. Or there's a weakness period all Dragon Clan go through. It can last anywhere from 2 to 4 days, and during that time, you're stuck in dragon form."

Nodding, Kendra finished. "Or if you get hurt and get very weak, or suffer from a combination of things, you can transform. And when I mean combination, I mean, if you're weak, but your protectiveness or anger is forcing you to move on."

"Well, I think I know what happened to Hunter, then." I muttered, and Tori nodded with a raised eyebrow. _He got hurt, badly, but wouldn't rest because he knew that thing was after me._ As touched as I felt, knowing he cared that deeply for me, I was also upset that he didn't just rest. It would have hurt so much worse if I'd lost him, to not having him there to protect me.

But then, I also knew that he was constantly terrified of losing me. That thought alone kept him always on his toes, and looking out for me.

"When he wakes up, if we're not engaged in any battles, I'll help him to transform back." Kendra stated softly. "Although I may need your help."

In the dark room, I couldn't be sure, but something told me she was hurt, emotionally.

"It's obvious he doesn't like me."

_Yep, Hunter._ How'd I know her pain was related to him? I knew he didn't mean to be so mean, he's just afraid to trust people we don't know, after what Lothor pulled, and after losing our parents. Thinking about it, I often wondered why I was so different. Hunter was obviously still in pain, and he hid it by putting up a wall of defensiveness around him. Why wasn't I like that? "Yeah, sure." I finally answered, aware that she was waiting for me to answer her. _Hunter doesn't _not_ like her, he's just not sure how to feel._

"We'd better get going." Carly muttered. "That giant group of Ghouls and Coeurls is coming back, from what I can hear."

Kendra seemed to stiffen up a moment before nodding. "Alright guys, we're heading to the floor below. We can't afford to find another room to hide in, so blast anything that tries to attack you. In the center of the room below, there's a big hole in the floor and a path leading down. That's our destination!"

With a series of nods, our group headed out. Kendra was in the lead with Hunter in her arms, watching the approaching Coeurls worriedly as she rushed down the stairs to the floor below. Then Shane, Cam and Dustin followed, leaving Tori beside me, and Carly behind us, taking up the rear.

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POV CHANGE TIME! LOL! Oh my gosh, I'm sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo tired! If any of this sounds weird at all, it's because I'm struggling to write while being beyond exhausted and having a lot on my mind.

Hope you liked it!

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"Ken-oh crap!"

Oooooooooooooooo

R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	40. Chapter 40

MASSIVE UPDATE! Ok, so I had a good week and got close to 11 chapters written in that time. The action will die down for a bit, but also climb right back up again, and notice! I am doing a sequel with mentions of other Ranger teams. More info is coming on that!

**GinaStar** - Omg! I couldn't do that to the boys! (Shudders) Close enough, but no, he didn't get bitten. LOL

**BlueDolphinz** - Well, here's a 7 chapter update for you! LOL And I still have 16 written and put aside for now. LOL I agree, Tori and Blake are cute.

**JuseaPeterson** - Oh yeah, I forgot about that. LOL. And what can I say, adorable dragons or godly men, either way they're gorgeous! Well I'm working on the journey. Now this one's taking longer than I'd like, which is why I'm going to stop it at a certain point and start a sequel. Carly is Carly. I'm trying to not have her as a Mary-Sue, but also want her to have different powers than the others. She can cast SOME spells, but not too many. She's not a big fighter, and has no real offensive powers.

I wasn't sure about having it in his pov for them trying to get in, but it's what came. And I kind of wanted to show his thoughts, so it worked. She feels that way now... I'm trying to work them up to a good friend point, and then hint to a crush and work my way up, lol.

**Pinklen98** - Tori didn't MEAN to crush Blake! LOL She missed him! And I had to have them reunite some how at some point. Yes, lots of weird dead things (Shudders) But that's how it worked so far.

Hope you guys like this. Like I said, massive update this week because I got a lot written!

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**Last time**

Kendra seemed to stiffen up a moment before nodding. "Alright guys, we're heading to the floor below. We can't afford to find another room to hide in, so blast anything that tries to attack you. In the center of the room below, there's a big hole in the floor and a path leading down. That's our destination!"

With a series of nods, our group headed out. Kendra was in the lead with Hunter in her arms, watching the approaching Coeurls worriedly as she rushed down the stairs to the floor below. Then Shane, Cam and Dustin followed, leaving Tori beside me, and Carly behind us, taking up the rear.

**This time**

(Kendra's POV)

When I saw that massive group of monsters beginning to head back, all thoughts about being quiet fled my mind entirely. Even if we managed to slip past it, which was highly unlikely due to the number of Coeurls in the group, who could track movement, there were more below us, from what I could hear and smell. And If we ran into one group, there was no avoiding the other.

So, holding Hunter tightly against my chest, but carefully enough not to hurt him, I raced ahead, knowing the others were only steps behind me. My only thought was to make it to the hole. For some reason, the monsters never went down there. My thoughts were because it leads to what was once a holy place, so it might still have had some power to repel them.

Either way, I raced to the stairs, noting only briefly that the Coeurls had picked up our movements and were on the run towards us, alerting the Ghouls to us. I took the stairs practically two at a time, keeping an eye out below us, in case there were more.

What good would it do to run from one monster, only to end up in the hands…or in this case, claws, of another?

"We have to hurry!" I called, forgoing on the silence. There was no hiding now. I felt Hunter moving in my arms slightly, and cursed silently, knowing he was beginning to wake up.

"How much farther?" Tori called from somewhere behind me.

Looking to the opposite side of where the hole was, I didn't answer. I knew monsters were approaching, but my eyes and mind were locked solely on what was in front of me. A horrifying, and strangely curious sight.

Hundreds of Ghouls were walking or shuffling around. There were bodies of Coeurls, as well as long decayed bodies of Windians lying around. Then there were other bodies I couldn't identify because they had been torn apart. Bones literally covered the floor and some were in heaping piles.

"Kendra? What's wrong?" Carly's voice carried over the room.

Still the Ghouls kept shuffling around, one of them noticing me and beginning it's stalk towards me.

_So many…_ I thought distractedly. _And such a massacre!_

I felt a suddenly cold spell run down my spine and shivered uncontrollably because of it. Feeling like someone or something was looking through me, I looked around more carefully, feeling my breath catch in my throat, and my heart skip a beat at what I saw.

"Ken-oh crap!"

Finally, I turned to Carly, her voice having snapped me out of my trance, and making me feel a little less afraid, since I recalled I wasn't alone.

"Are those…?" she asked, her eyes filled with terror and locked on to the sight before us.

Nodding, I turned back, careful to keep a tight rein over my fears. "They are… Ghouls and Ghasts."

Among the sea of Ghouls, many of which had now noticed us, were several Ghasts. They were easy enough to tell, because once they sensed us, they stood up full height. I hadn't noticed them before, probably because they were crouched down, feeding on remains of the fallen Coeurls. Now that they were standing…

Think of it like this. You have thousands of Ghouls, all roughly the same height and wandering aimlessly back and forth. Then you have Ghasts which are a good six inches to a foot taller, have piercing black eyes that seem to swallow their faces, and pierce your very soul, and gaping mouths filled with jagged fangs, dripping with the blood from whatever they were eating on.

"_Those_ are Ghasts?!" Tori cried, her horror was clear in her voice.

Something about the evil aura these things seemed to exude just froze the blood of everyone who looked at them.

"Um, yeah." I muttered, taking a step back. I finally became aware of the scent of the Coeurls at the top of the stairs and frowned. "Time to go, guys!" Hearing a little squeak, and sensing fear from the source, I looked down at the little dragon in my arms, which was looking at the sea of monsters, his half open eyes locking on the Ghasts and widening in terror. Then he buried his face in my arms. "And dragon." I muttered as I turned and ran. "It's not that much further!"

Racing to the hole, we stopped at the edge and I looked at the Rangers as they just seemed to look down into it.

"What now?" Shane asked in confusion. "Where's the path?"

"It's invisible." I muttered sarcastically. "Guys, just jump! It's down there!" Without even waiting, I jumped ahead down, knowing that at least Blake would follow me, seeing as how I had his brother. And Tori would follow him, so obviously, the others would follow them…

Once I hit the bottom, I ran a few steps ahead, waiting for Carly to get down here with her lighter and light one of the old torches. _I really don't like Ghasts. Ghouls I can deal with, Ghosts are easy enough if you know tricks, and Coeurls, well… They didn't seem _so_ bad. But Ghasts…_ Shuddering, I sighed and gestured to a torch when Carly made it down with Tori and Blake, followed immediately by the others.

Hearing a grumble in my arms, I looked down and bit back a giggle, seeing Hunter glaring at me. "What?"

He dug his claws into my hand, not enough to break the skin, but enough to be painful, and gave me a pointed look, and I could feel his wings trying to move, but they were pressed against my chest.

"I still don't understand what you're glaring at me for." I told him honestly, still trying not to laugh. Hey, come on, he's a little dragon, glaring at me with big blue eyes, and wiggling in my arms. "You want me to put you down?"

Blake couldn't hold back the chuckle as he looked at what was supposed to be his older brother. "Relax bro, Kendra promised she'd help you change back."

Shooting him a quick look, I raised an eyebrow. "Is that his problem?" I asked carefully, wondering if I was reading his reactions right. _Is he hearing Hunter in his head?_

"Well, yeah. He's kinda freaked about being in this weird form and doesn't understand what's going on, and he's linking it to you…" Blake rambled a little, looking confused. "He's more freaked than anything."

"And you know this…how?" Shane asked with a weirded out look on his face.

Pausing a moment, Blake looked confused and frowned. "Um, a guess?"

"Or maybe you heard him saying it?" I questioned out loud, not even trying to hide what I was thinking. "One of the powers of the dragon clan, Blake. You two are brothers, you can communicate telepathically."

"I can read his mind?"

Thinking for a moment, I quickly picked up how this could be uncomfortable for him. "Well yeah, but you can also learn to control it so you're not listening in at the wrong times."

"Define 'wrong times'." He muttered quietly, not even looking at me.

Getting that he wasn't actually talking to me, I stayed quiet while he seemed to think.

"Yeah, I can hear his voice in my head. He's royally freaked about being a dragon. Hunter doesn't know what's going on, but he knows you likely had the answers, which is why he was glaring at you. Kinda his silent way of demanding you explain and turn him back."

Laughing softly, I raised an eyebrow. "Demand, huh? Oh, oops, I just forgot how." I stated with a grin, trying to ignore the pain I felt that he automatically blamed me, and quickly handing Hunter to Blake before he could claw my eyes out for that comment. "Demanding always seems to do that to me." I sighed, dramatically. "Oh dear. Well, it's a good thing I told you, Blake. You can tell him what I said." I finished abruptly as my tiny bit of amusement faded, raising an eyebrow to Hunter, who looked torn between being confused and angry.

"Well, either way, we should get going." Carly put in, looking up at the hole and the monsters lining it. "Who knows what's down here?"

"That's a very good question." Looking around, Cam raised an eyebrow as we began walking along the path. "What _is_ down here?"

"Like I said, who knows?" she repeated.

"Well, what _was_ down here, then?"

Now Carly laughed. "Who knows?"

I couldn't help but giggle, knowing she was just messing with him. Then I went silent as we walked. I let the others take the lead in the long, winding, dark path. Carly had the torch so she was in the very front, followed closely by Cam, then Shane and Blake, with Hunter, and then Tori and Dustin, with me taking the rear. Falling back a little ways, I let the smile fade from my face, allowing myself a little time to think.

I was hurt. Sure, Hunter had every right to be confused and angry, and he looked beyond adorable as a baby dragon, and he every right to blame me, but this wasn't _my_ fault. I didn't know just how dangerous this mission could be. The Ghasts and Coeurls weren't even supposed to exist! How could I possibly know they'd get hurt, or that he'd transform?? I understood his reasons for being angry, and demanding I help him, but I just wished he'd give me the benefit of the doubt for a change.

Now I don't know much about their pasts, but they've both suffered great losses. You could see it in their eyes, if you looked close enough, and those loses have bonded them closer. But whereas Blake seems relatively normal, despite all this, it's like Hunter built this impenetrable wall around his heart. Defensiveness, anger, they were natural responses for him.

_You're thinking too much about it._ I thought to myself, as I ducked down and half crawled through a narrow passageway.

"You can't tell me you don't know what's down here?" Cam asked incredulously.

"Ok, I won't."

Sighing a little, I focused on the present, glancing briefly at the little ruby dragon in Blake's arms and noting briefly that Blake was talking to him softly.

"Relax. I was just kidding."

"We could be in danger, and you're joking around." Cam must've been giving her one of his glares. I couldn't tell, because I was behind him.

Luckily, the path had opened up again, so I had room to stand up straight as she stopped and turned to him with a glare and sigh.

"Look, Anything that was down here is supposed to be extinct."

"Like _that's_ meant anything here." Shane put in, in irritation. "If that's the case, you'd better tell us because we'll likely run into them all."

"Shades." I answered from the back of the group, causing everyone to turn to me. "They're the most common. They're golems that live in the rock walls, usually around the larger green crystals. They draw their energy from them. They can blend into the walls, seemingly melting into them, only to reappear in another place. They're not really that strong, but they can definitely be a nuisance. The easiest ways to kill them is to destroy the crystal and release it's energy."

"Won't that hurt Carly?" Blake questioned curiously.

"No, because the crystals only held the power. If they're destroyed, they only release it. And Shades should actually be really extinct because there's no energy in the crystals, left to draw on."

Hunter squirmed a bit and Blake looked at him before loosening his hold and Hunter jumped to the ground, sitting there quietly next to his brother.

"Ok… And what else?" Cam asked with a frown.

"Imps. They're just what their name implies. Small monsters that appear as clouds of fog or mist. They tend to be reddish or black in color, and like to steal anything shiny or unusual. The only way to get rid of them is to cast a healing spell on them. They are creatures purely of darkness and a healing spell of light will undo them, casting them into nothingness." I answered thoughtfully. "They're not really dangerous though, more of a nuisance, like the Shades."

"Then there's the Venus Man Traps." Carly added after a moment.

"Dude, Venus Man… Oh, like, you mean fly traps? The plants?" Dustin asked.

Shaking her head, Carly laughed. "Did I say fly? No, I meant Venus _Man_ Traps. They're giant plants that thrive on darkness. They have very sensitive roots and those very roots tend to litter the cavern floor and walls a good distance around them. If you so happen to trip on one, or even lightly brush up against it, the plants will snap into action and attack before you can blink. They're fast, always hungry, and love human flesh. But they're also weak against fire, so use that as your advantage."

Tori nodded. "Ok, so a lot of nuisances, and one dangerous type of monster?"

"Don't forget Cerberus." I added pointedly, feeling a power surge and knowing what was about to happen. "And Dustin, do me a favor and move two steps to your left?"

He looked at me in confusion before shrugging and doing as I asked. Lucky he did, too, because at that precise moment, Hunter glowed brightly and grew in size. When the light faded away, he was back in his human form, still shirtless, but otherwise relatively intact, and looking beyond confused.

"Dude, what was so weird!" he muttered, rubbing his arm and looking himself over. "Have I got any scales anywhere? Or a tail or anything?" Spinning in a circle, he tried to look behind him, but only succeeded in making us all laugh. "Hey! You try waking up in the form of some scaled little creature, and not knowing what the heck's going on!"

"Bro, you transformed when you were hurt." Blake stated with a slight grin. "You were in a small dragon form."

"Well, ok, but still.. That was way beyond creepy!" Shuddering, he ran his hands over his arms again before settling down. "So now that I'm back to being me, and we're away from any immediate danger, wanna tell me what's next?" He was looking directly at me for that question.

Looking away, I was still hurt about him tying his transformation to me, and 'demanding' me to help him. I knew it was ridiculous, but at that moment, I just didn't want to give him any more reasons to blame me for something or another. Besides, one moment he wants answers from me, then the next he's blaming me for one thing or another. "Carly, why don't you explain? We should really keep going." I stated as monotonously as I could, walking forward, taking the torch and ducking into another narrow passageway.

_Why do I even care if he hates me?_ I thought as I crawled and twisted my way through the passage, ignoring the talk going on behind me. _It's not like it matters._

"Next, we get you back out through the water gate, and give you directions to the island, then you can take care of business." She answered distractedly.

_After all this, he'll leave and you'll never see him again. You'll never see any of them again._

For some reason, my heart ached at this. I guess I'd grown kind of fond of them, in the short time I knew them. And yes, that includes Hunter's irritable nature.

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Hope you liked it.

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"Well, when you leave to do your thing on the island, you and the others will be going alone. Carly and I will-"

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R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	41. A Talk

**Disclaimer** - Been a while, but, I DON'T OWN IT!

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**Last time**

_After all this, he'll leave and you'll never see him again. You'll never see any of them again._

For some reason, my heart ached at this. I guess I'd grown kind of fond of them, in the short time I knew them. And yes, that includes Hunter's irritable nature.

**This time**

(Hunter's POV)

Frowning deeply, I stared at Kendra's back as she crawled on ahead of us. Somehow, I just knew something was wrong, and I had a feeling it was because of my reaction before, when I was in dragon form. I'd been harsh, and of course, Blake didn't think about that when he told her what I was thinking.

_That mind reading thing could grow tiring very quickly._ I thought darkly, feeling irritated that he didn't realize it might hurt her, and feeling bad for being angry at her in the first place.

Alright, so I wasn't really _angry_ per say. I was more irritated, and freaked and seeing that she was the one carrying me, I guess I jumped to conclusions. Honestly, I didn't remember a lot of what happened after I collapsed during the fight. Part of me recalled helping Blake, but it was faded, like a dream.

"Wait." Carly's words had finally kicked in and I turned to her as we crawled along. "What do you mean 'we'? I thought you and Kendra were coming along?" At least, I could have sworn I heard Cam complaining about it a little while ago, their stubborn insistence to come with us.

"Well, we did…" Carly seemed uncertain as she glanced to Kendra and crawled a little ways ahead. "I think, um, it might be best if we just stayed out of your way." She muttered with a confused look.

_Right, and I'm jolly old Saint Nick._ I thought sarcastically. "Oh, so suddenly something's changed from before?" Yeah, I know I was being a smart-aleck. So what? They got to have all the fun?

"Carly, how long do you think until we reach the surface?" Kendra called back quietly as she finally crawled out into a more open part of the cave.

Frowning deeply, I crawled a little faster, and climbed out behind her. "Why? Suddenly in a hurry?"

Why did that hurt?

The idea that she might be in a hurry to get this all over with, to get us on our way and maybe never see us again… The idea that I might not ever see her again hurt a little. I didn't really understand why, but it did. "Don't Blake and I still have a day left to our mission?" Not like it mattered, the mission was obviously over with.

"I think the fact that we're even here kinda makes the mission moot point." She muttered, not even looking at me.

"Kendra."

She moved a little ways ahead. "We should keep going. Like Shane said, we're very likely going to run into something down here." Pausing a moment, she seemed to make a face, though even with the torch, it was hard to tell. "And in which case, I hope we run into the plants of Shades. They're both way preferable to Cerberus."

"Stop!" I stated firmly, feeling my irritation start to rise. Taking her arm, Lead her a little way ahead, giving Blake a look that told him he'd better not listen in, and stared right at her. "Look, stop changing the subject. Are you forgetting that I'm half dragon, now, too?" With a sigh, I looked away before looking back, feeling very awkward. "I don't know much about all this, but it's like I can tell if something is bothering someone…"

It's their scent." She cut in, facing me for a moment. "It's a natural dragon instinct. You can smell the scent of their skin, a smell unique to everyone. Subtle changes in that scent, as well as bodily reactions or facial expressions can tell you if something is wrong. It's like a sixth sense, if you will."

"Right." Raising an eyebrow, I nodded a bit, surprised that I actually understood all that and it made sense. "Ok, well, what I'm saying is that I can tell something is really bothering you." I glanced briefly at Blake before looking to the ground. Apologizing has never been my strong point, except when it came to Blake. "And I know it has to do with the fact that I was nasty earlier."

Now her eyes locked on my face, as I looked up, and filled with a combination of realization and confusion.

"I jumped to a conclusion. I woke up with scales and feeling weird, freaked out, realized you were carrying me, and thought you had something to do with it."

"Well, in a way, I kinda did."

Now I paused, looking at her in confusion. "Huh?" I'd thought she was upset because I wrongfully accused her, but that statement made me question that.

"Well, I was the one who brought you here to the cavern in the first place. If I hadn't, you wouldn't be half dragon."

"That's not what I meant." I said lowly, crossing my arms over my chest. "And you know what I mean. Look…" With a sigh, I looked into her eyes, making sure she knew to look back. For a moment I got lost in the depths of her eyes, and reluctantly admitted to myself that she was pretty, before I quickly pushed that thought aside and focused. "What I'm trying to say is, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rude, I just… Well, I get that way sometimes." The last of that sentence was muttered quietly, as I really just didn't know what to say.

She looked at me uncertainly for a moment before sighing and lowering her gaze. "Look, Hunter, you have every right to blame me. I took you and Blake from your normal lives, and brought you here, without giving you any say in the matter. I didn't come and talk to you, I just sent you visions. I didn't tell you anything about myself, and then I thrust all this at you."

"And if you didn't the world would end, right?"

Kendra hesitated. "Well, yeah."

"So bringing us here is a good thing." I looked to Blake who was talking to Tori and smiled a little. "Besides, we're both still alive and now have a better chance at beating Lothor. Then we have our entire lives to figure out about this half dragon thing."

Smiling herself, Kendra nodded. "That's very true. You'll have your world, and your friends."

"And you and Carly will be there to help us."

Now her face fell. "Well, actually…"

"Don't you dare say otherwise." I warned lowly, feeling my heart beating painfully. _I'm just now getting more comfortable around them, despite the problems I'm still having with Kendra and Cam's having with Carly, what's going to happen now?_

Looking at me in confusion, Kendra's eyes narrowed. "Well, when you leave to do your thing on the island, you and the others will be going alone. Carly and I will-"

"Be coming with us." I cut in adamantly. "You can't honestly think we're just going to let you live here, in this place surrounded by monsters and lizard people and stuff, alone?"

"We've lived here this long."

"With two dragon spirits. And even then, that was still pretty bad, Kendra."

"So? And where are we supposed to stay in your world? And what are we supposed to say if anyone asks us anything about our pasts?"

Frowning, I thought a moment. "Carly can make something up, or just edit her real past, and you can just tell what your past was before you became Dragon Clan."

"Ok, that's one question answered, but not the big one. Where are we supposed to stay?"

"Well… Uh…" I thought quickly. "At Ops."

She raised an eyebrow and looked at me in confusion as she held the torch high. "And…what's Ops?"

"Ninja Ops. It's like a hidden underground headquarters for us, and it's got bedrooms."

"Well, ok that could work. What if people ask for an address or where we live?" She seemed uncertain now, as if she was seriously giving the idea some thought. "We can't exactly say 'at a hidden Ninja Ops'."

"One of us can cover, saying you're staying with us."

"You sure seem eager to offer the help of your friends without even talking to them."

Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath, quickly getting tired of arguing. "Look, just think about it, ok? I'm sure that they won't have a problem with it, just give them a little time to think it over and get used to the idea." Yeah I knew I was pushing it. I think I just wanted her to stop questioning me, and agree already.

"Fine." She conceded. "But you're talking to them about it, and no pushing. The end decision is mine and Carly's."

I wanted to push it farther, but the look on her face told me it was best not to, so I nodded a little. "Agreed." Honestly, I don't know why I was arguing about this with her. Maybe it was because despite the fact that she was insisting they were fine, I knew better. Stuck here with only those two spirit dragons? Alone? They must have gotten lonely. I knew a little something about that. Even with Blake, there were times I felt alone.

Still, as she went back to the others, I was left feeling confused about why I pushed it. That just wasn't like me.

"Come on, we'd better get going." She called slightly from a foot or two ahead of the others.

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Ok I got turned around on this chapter, the consequences of being very tired and struggling to write anyways. Um, anyways, I don't really know why I had Hunter arguing with her. I realized it wasn't the right time, because they barely know each other and he shouldn't be feeling quite so strongly about whether or not she and Carly remain behind.

It's not that he has feelings for her, which should be explained, just the reason he stated above. "Even with Blake, there were times I felt alone."

Anyways, Hope you liked it.

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"Yeah but you couldn't call us for help at that point, because we were already here. I didn't even know, and I wouldn't have been able to pro-"

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R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	42. Another Talk and Another Battle

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**Last time**

Still, as she went back to the others, I was left feeling confused about why I pushed it. That just wasn't like me.

"Come on, we'd better get going." She called slightly from a foot or two ahead of the others.

**This time**

(Blake's POV)

When Hunter grabbed Kendra's arm, I was about ready to jump in between them, thinking he was going to snap at her. I had this sense he was upset, maybe mad, and to be honest, I didn't know if it was with me or her. I think part of me knew it was with me, because I'd just spoken freely with her, not thinking that it might upset her. But then, they don't know each other too well, so I guess I didn't think it would matter.

"You ok?" Tori asked softly.

Snapping back to attention at her words, I nodded a little before glancing to Hunter and catching him giving me a look. "Yeah, I'm fine." I muttered, looking back to Tori. Seeing her worried gaze, I couldn't help but smile. I didn't even realized just _how_ bad I missed her until I saw her again. "I'm glad you're ok."

Her forehead creased in confusion and she tilted her head a little, brushing her hair out of her face. "Ok?"

"Well, I mean, when we got separated, I didn't know what happened." I tried to explain, feeling my face heating up. "One minute you were there, and the next you were gone, and…" Taking a second, I looked down. "I didn't even notice. Tor, I'm so sorry."

Tori's eyes widened before she smiled and shook her head. "No reason to be. I know you were distracted with the whole dragon thing, it's ok. And if we were in trouble, we could have called for help."

"I didn't even know what happened to you. Kendra said you were safe, but I couldn't help worrying."

"We were fine. The only trouble we had was getting lost at one point, and having to face some dragon monster outside the cave, along the dirt path."

Now I raised an eyebrow. "Dragon monster?"

Laughing quietly, she looked to Dustin before looking back at me. "Dustin slipped and fell in the water. We got attacked by this big, dragon that lived under the water, and it took Carly and Kendra helping us to beat it back."

"And I wasn't there?" I asked, raising my voice a little. _They were in trouble and I didn't even know!_

Tori turned to me and frowned a little, her eyes softening before she lightly nudged me in the side. "Like I said, we're ok."

"Yeah but you couldn't call us for help at that point, because we were already here. I didn't even know, and I wouldn't have been able to pro-" Pausing mid word, I looked down, feeling as embarrassed as I did the day on the beach, when I'd admitted to liking Tori. Smiling awkwardly, I looked back up and into her eyes briefly. "Protect you."

Biting her lip, Tori smiled and looked away. "We're ok, and that's what matters right?"

"Be coming with us." I heard Hunter's voice say sternly.

Frowning deeply, I turned and saw him staring intently at Kendra. His face seemed full of insistence at something, and hers seemed reluctant, if not hesitant. I listened to them arguing about her and Carly coming with us, and couldn't help but raise my eyebrow at my bro. _Wow, that's really unlike Hunter._ I thought in confusion. In the short time we'd known these girls, I didn't think he'd feel so strongly in any way about her or Carly. Then again, this wasn't exactly a normal situation.

"Fine. But you're talking to them about it, and no pushing. The end decision is mine and Carly's." Kendra stated quietly, but firmly.

He seemed to hesitate, but agreed to her terms, and I knew I'd better have a talk with him. Glancing briefly to Tori, I saw her waving off Shane, who seemed confused about something before turning to me with a look of worry.

"Ok, you zoned out. What's going on?" she almost whispered. "And don't you tell me it was nothing."

I couldn't help but smile a little at her firm tone before crossing my arms over my chest. "And what'll you do if I do?"

Her eyes narrowed and she grinned sneakily. "I'll take your bike away." She teased.

I feigned shock and horror at that before laughing a little and sighing. Letting the humor slip away, I allowed the troubled expression to fall over my face again. "Hunter was arguing with Kendra about coming with us."

"Is he still against that?"

"No, actually…" I watched as Hunter stopped and Kendra turned, heading back in our direction. "He wants Carly and Kendra to come live in our world."

"Oh…really? Um, ok, but why? Not that it's a bad idea…"

"That's what I plan to find out." I muttered just loud enough for her to hear.

Stopping a few feet away, Kendra held the torch out, her expression masked. "Come on, we'd better get going." She called slightly before turning and beginning to walk down the path.

Gesturing for Tori to go ahead with the others, I carefully worked my way to Hunter's side and grabbed his arm lightly, pulling him to a stop until we were a few feet behind the others. Then I started walking, keeping a slow, steady pace. "What's going on, bro?"

"What do you mean?" he asked lowly, his tone distracted.

"Why were you arguing with Kendra about coming to stay in our world?" I saw Kendra's head turn in our direction slightly, and Carly glanced back at us with a torn expression on her face before facing forward again. Getting that we weren't far enough away, I slowed down a little more, letting them move ahead. "And why'd you offer Ops without talking to Cam about it? You know you're gonna get an earful from him for that."

"You make it sound like I always do whatever he tells me." He put in dryly with a grin. "Or are you forgetting that I plan to drive him crazy before the year is out?"

I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing, remembering his 'solemn vow' to make Cam go mad. Struggling to retain my stern composer, I raised an eyebrow. "So? What's all this about insisting Kendra and Carly stay in our world?"

Frowning for a moment, he glanced at me, uncertainty in his eyes. "You think it's a bad idea?" he asked softly.

Shaking my head quickly, I smirked a little. "Actually no, but it's just…" Searching for the right word, I shrugged. "It's not like you bro. You're the older, broody brother, remember? You're the one that's supposed to take practically forever to let anyone close to you, but we've only known Kendra and Carly for a few days and already you're insisting that they live with us?"

"Not _with us_." He muttered. "Look Blake, I dunno why I got into an argument about it. I don't know why I insisted they come live in our world, I don't know why I feel so strongly about it. But think about it, they've been living on their own here. Doesn't that just seem…wrong?" His expression was beyond lost as he groaned and scrubbed his face with the heels of his hands. "I don't know, bro. Man, if feels like my mind's trying to go in a million directions at once!"

Pursing my lips, I nodded, understanding a little how he felt, and now, his reasons for acting the way he did. Something about them living here, it personally bothered him. I didn't know exactly why, or what it was, but I agreed with him. "Let's see what the others think, but I think they'll agree. This is actually a good idea." I conceded. _Cam might put up a small fit about them staying at Ops, but it is a good idea._ "Hm, so maybe you _are_ wise." I stated teasingly, nudging his chin with my hand.

"You know it." He stated back with a grin, ducking out of the way and playfully hitting me in the arm.

"Guys."

Stopping cold, I clearly heard the worry in Carly's voice as she called quietly to us all. A cold shiver ran up my spine, though I didn't know why, and I carefully scanned the cave path in all direction, trying to figure out why I felt something was very wrong.

"What is it?" Cam almost hissed, his own body tense.

In fact, everyone was tense, Dragon Clan or not. Maybe it was our natural instincts, but I think we all could tell something was really wrong. Hearing a low growl, my eyes darted to it's source and I noted it was Hunter, who was glaring darkly around the cave, almost blindly. "Bro?" I whispered.

"Does anyone else hear that?" Carly asked quietly, while still trying to project her voice well enough for the others to hear. "Listen."

Doing as she said, I listened. I could make out the very faint, almost non-existent sound of wind brushing through tight crevices in the walls, and a faint, far away sound of dripping waters.

_Wait._

"I don't hear anything." Dustin muttered, getting a hissed 'shhh' from Kendra. "Ok, ok, got it." He whispered quietly. "Not helping."

Concentrating harder, I could vaguely make out the sound of leaves. Or rather, wind rustling through leaves, but…was that right? "Leaves?"

Hunter frowned deeply. "Leaves." Raising an eyebrow, he allowed his stance to relax a little. "You got us all worked up over a bunch of leaves??" he quietly demanded of the red-head.

"Hunter…" Kendra's voice had a warning tone in it. "Listen again. Yes, leaves, but that in itself should be the very reason you _don't_ relax!" Glancing over her shoulder, she leveled a pointed look at him. "We're in a cave, and you're hearing leaves. What does that tell you?"

"That there's a plant nearby, or an opening into the outside world."

"There are only two exits from this path. Back in the building, and there are no leaves there. Or at the Minotaur's Glade, and that is still a ways away." She stated with a frown.

"Maybe another one opened up?" Tori asked quietly.

Shaking her head, Kendra looked at her. "No, not likely. And even if it was, we're still too far from any healthy land or living trees."

_So if it's not a normal tree, and if there's a plant underground…_ I still felt on the edge. My body was stiff with tension and it was like all my already heightened senses were kicked into high gear, bringing back the confused feeling and massive headache I'd had when they first were enhanced. I realized I was still looking around, checking even the tiniest crevices for any sign of what was making the sound, and frowned, stopping and facing the others. "So it's an underground plant?" I thought out loud.

"Underground…?" Eyes widening, Shane turned to Carly who'd first issued the warning. "Tell me it's not one of those Man Traps you told us about!"

"Precisely!" she stated louder. "Come on, we'd better get out of here!" Racing ahead, she lit a random torch that was sitting in a holder along the wall, and raced down a path.

"Carly!" Kendra called in aggravation as she followed after her a moment later. "Wait! Slow down!"

Groaning to himself, Hunter closed his eyes a moment before reopening them and chasing after the others, who had immediately begun following the two Dragon Clan girls.

I'm not really sure what happened after that. One minute I was thinking about how annoying all these random battles were… I mean, every time we finally had a chance to relax, BAM! Another monster appeared and changed all that! But my point is, one minute I was starting to allow myself to relax and getting annoyed at these monsters, and the next, we're racing blindly down a tunnel, and there's a dull thud and the sound of Hunter's surprised cry.

Stopping and turning, looking for my bro, I felt my eyes widen in horror when I finally realized what I was missing before._ Oh man…_ "Hunter!"

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Yes, yes, so evil and you're hating me for my cliffhangers. I guess it would be suicide to say I have more written but posting time is next week for some of it? LOL!! Don't worry, you know I'd never kill off my characters.

So hope you liked it, despite wanting to murder me right now, LOL!

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"That weird girl? The one from our dream?"

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R+R please.

Thank you

Tenshi


	43. Visiting Lothor Once Again

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**Last Time**

I'm not really sure what happened after that. One minute I was thinking about how annoying all these random battles were… I mean, every time we finally had a chance to relax, BAM! Another monster appeared and changed all that! But my point is, one minute I was starting to allow myself to relax and getting annoyed at these monsters, and the next, we're racing blindly down a tunnel, and there's a dull thud and the sound of Hunter's surprised cry.

Stopping and turning, looking for my bro, I felt my eyes widen in horror when I finally realized what I was missing before._ Oh man…_ "Hunter!"

**This Time**

(On the Island, Normal POV)

"Just how many defenses does this island have?!" Lothor roared angrily as he dispatched yet another cat with tentacles. Frowning deeply, he briefly noted he was beginning to get tired, but refused to allow anyone else to notice. Also, the pull of the power was stronger, fueling him go keep going. _I must have that power!_

"What _are_ these things?" Kapri called, ducking under one of the cats, and blasting another with a ball of pink energy. "They're so…..weird looking."

Marah just nodded, swinging her sword and cutting off several tentacles on one of the cats before running and jumping into a tree, spinning and jumping back down, using her momentum to slice the animal in half. Feeling a pain in her leg, she cried out before spinning to another cat and slicing at the claw that had cut her. "Ow! That hurt!"

"Marah! Enough goofing off!" her sister scolded, frowning deeply and blasting the animal before it could attack again. Looking at her uncle, she hesitated to follow him deeper into the woods, not knowing what was coming next.

Once the final cats had been cleared away, Marah slowly made her way to her sister's side. "What do you think?"

"I don't know. Maybe she was right."

"That weird girl? The one from our dream?"

Both girls had recently had a dream, the _same_ dream, where a strange girl by the name of Kendra came and visited them. She warned them both that her being there was a favor to a friend, though she didn't say who, and showed them images that left both girls terrified and shaking for hours after.

Kendra showed them images of Lothor finding the power, and using it to turn them all into monsters, before more or less destroying the world. Of course neither of them wanted to believe it, but then again, something kept nagging at them. Still, that didn't mean they confided in each other about their doubts.

"You don't really think uncle will…hurt us…?" Marah asked weakly, feeling uncertain as she caught the power hungry gaze in his eyes. "I mean, he's Uncle." _He wouldn't betray or hurt us, would he? _Well, it wouldn't be the first time if he did, Lothor did have a thing for blasting them whenever he seemed to feel like it.

Frowning, Kapri also eyed him warily. "You're right Mar, he is our Uncle." Pausing for a moment, she wanted to reassure her sister, and herself, that he wouldn't betray them, but that dream… It all seemed so real! She just couldn't say for sure! "Let's just keep going. For now. We can always turn back if things get…" _Get what? Bad? Like Kendra said? Nasty?_

Things were already bad. They were getting nastier by the moment, but they wouldn't know if Lothor would hurt them, until he got to the crystal, and neither one of them wanted to admit they were afraid.

Marah understood why Kapri trailed off and nodded, following after her bigger sister and knowing that they wouldn't run that easily. Lothor was family, even with this possible threat of him betraying them… If there was a chance it was all a lie, they'd take it. Besides, this stranger came to them in a dream, from a 'friend'? They didn't have any friends that they knew of, and if what Lothor had said about that little dragon was true, that was Kendra, who was obviously an ally to the Power Rangers, their enemy.

More than enough reason for both girls not to trust her, in their eyes.

"So? What have we got?" Lothor demanded of Zurgane, fully aware of Kapri and Marah's uncertainty. _Great. Just what I need. The airheads are questioning all this._ He made a mental note to keep an eye on them, not wanting them to get in his way for power.

"Sir, it looks like most of the island is covered in defenses of all kinds. Many of the troops we sent out, did not return. They are everywhere, there doesn't seem to be a way to avoid them."

Vexacus remained quiet as he watched the exchange. Glancing to the girls, he sneered quietly in disgust at their obvious fear, and looking around, he decided against going off on his own, choosing to remain with Lothor until he got close to the crystal. _When you're least expecting it, I'll make my move and be rid of your insolence once and for all._ He thought darkly, nodding when Lothor glanced in his direction.

_Hm, he agrees too easily._ Lothor thought briefly, watching Vexacus for a moment before turning back to Zurgane. _I don't trust him. What is it these days? I just can't seem to find good help!_

Pursing his lip, Lothor felt the power of the crystal calling him and growled. "Then we'll go back to the ship and blast the surface of this island!" _Why do things always have to be so complicated? Can't anything go right, for a change?!_

"Sir, we could destroy the island completely, and there are more defenses in the caves."

"This is just not my day!" the dark space ninja muttered darkly. _And I still have yet to figure out what that weird energy pattern was that the computers picked up a short while ago._ "Well then, we haven't got all day! Lets get moving!"

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As you can tell, a much shorter chapter. I had no idea what to do here, sorry, I'm struggling at the moment because I have Stargate Atlantis ideas running through my head, and with a lot going on in my life right now, I am just trying to keep myself writing in general.

Hope you liked it, despite it being short.

Ooooooooooooooooooo

"HUNTER!"

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R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	44. Too Close For Comfort

Some of these notes are old and I tend to forget I have them, so if they're conflicting, don't worry about it. LOL!

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**Last Time**

"Sir, we could destroy the island completely, and there are more defenses in the caves."

"This is just not my day!" the dark space ninja muttered darkly. _And I still have yet to figure out what that weird energy pattern was that the computers picked up a short while ago._ "Well then, we haven't got all day! Lets get moving!"

**This Time**

(With the others, Kendra's POV)

When I'd heard Hunter cry out, I felt my blood run cold. The scent of pollen was heavy in the air, and I was certain we were in dangerous territory. In her haste to get past the Man Trap, I knew Carly wouldn't realize we'd have to pass it, so she inadvertently led us all right into it. Until now, we'd managed to actually avoid any and all roots, it seemed, but then Hunter must have stepped on one.

In the dim light of the torch, I took a look around, only just now realizing how completely surrounded by vines we were. Some were thick, some were thin, some ended in what looked like tentacles, some curled and looked sharp, like massive thorns. The vines were a bluish purple, and the leaves were dark in color.

Cam seemed lost, as if this was nothing like what he expected. "What in the world?!"

"HUNTER!" Blake screamed.

Looking around frantically, I watched as the said dragon clan was hauled into the air by a thick vine that was wrapped around his upper chest and arms. He was obviously struggling against it, but the pained expression in his face showed that the plant was squeezing him, and he must have felt like he was being squished in a vice.

"Hang on!" I found myself calling out to him as the others raced forward.

Carefully scanning as far as my eyes could see in every direction, I felt almost worried when I saw no sign of any other dangers. Ok, so Shades and Imps weren't a big threat, but who knew where or when Cerberus would show itself, _if_ it showed itself.

The vines and roots of the plant seemed to stretch for miles in every direction. There was no getting past it, we had no choice.

"Power of Thunder!"

Spinning back to the battle taking place, I watched as Blake hit the thing with his thunder powers, keeping an eye on the navy electrical energy as it traveled along the vines, and right up to Hunter himself. _Wow, good thing he's fire and lightning, or that would've hurt._ I thought as the energy danced over his body. He winced anyways, as the vine squeezed him tighter and seemed to gasp for hair as it kept him floating high above the ground.

I could see where his chest and upper stomach were turning a vicious red, on either side of the vine that held him, and knew we had to hurry, but what could we do?

"We need to use fire!" Carly called from the far side of the plant, kicking at a vine on the wall and trying to catch it's attention. "It's a plant, it's weak against fire!"

"Yeah but our only fire dragon is in that thing's grasp!" I called back, feeling my frustration grow.

She spun and tossed the lighter she was carrying at me before spinning back and trying to fend off a tentacle. "Use that!"

And how exactly was I supposed to do that? Walk up to the plant, stick the lighter in its face and hope to god it would somehow magically combust?? Once again looking around frantically, my eyes landed on thick masses of dry moss on the rock walls, where millennia of water and dirt have cascaded down and the seeds set root. Once I quickly formed a plan, albeit a weak one, I grabbed the moss and ripped it off the rocks before throwing it at the base of the plant.

Hunter's face was growing pale, and his eyes were getting glazed. I cold hear his heart falter and felt my own squeeze painfully in response.

_He's suffocating!_

"Hang on!" Blake almost screamed, tears shining brightly in his eyes. "Hunter, you have to hang on! I can't lose you, too, bro!"

His eyes narrowed a little, but none-the-less they still very slowly began to close.

I couldn't hear him breathing. It hit me now just how tight that plant was around him. He was struggling, his heart pounding at an almost inhuman rate, but it was growing ever slower. And he couldn't use his powers because they had little to no effect on the plant, and the amount of concentration it would need, and his current situation...

Turning back to the pile of moss, I wanted to scream and give up. I knew it wouldn't act quick enough to help, but I couldn't just leave him! Racing forward, I lit the lighter frantically, almost cursing under my breath every time the flame went up, only to die again. _Come on you stupid piece of junk!_ I thought angrily, feeling my body shaking in tension as I tried again. _Leave it to Carly to grab a pretty lighter that doesn't even work!_

Flick.

_Fail._

Flick.

"Hunter! Don't close your eyes!" his little brother kept screaming out to him, trying to keep him awake.

_Fail._

Flick. Come on!

_Catch._

The flame jumped high and the plant seemed to shiver and withdraw simply from the tiny little light. Holding my breath, I dropped the lighter in the moss and watched it catch, burning high and strong, rapidly. The plant immediately shrunk back, taking Hunter with it, and let out a high pitched shriek that was enough to almost make me scream in pain.

Hunter's eyes were closed now, and I could hear his heart beating much too slow for everything that was going on. What caught me was that it was an almost steady rhythm as if he were in a trance or something, but for the occasional stutter or pause.

_Hang on! Please hang on!_ I prayed as his friends kept battling the plant and struggling to reach him to try and free him, without getting caught themselves.

Looks of worry and fear were etched in all their face, as I'm sure it was etched in my own. They battled fiercely, not even trying their powers after they saw how Blake's ran right up to Hunter.

The base of the plant caught as Hunter's heartbeat slowed some more.

"Hunter! You coward!" I screamed suddenly, angry and terrified. _You can't die!_ "You're just going to give up on everyone?! Give up on Blake??"

His heart increased a little, and I could sense he was getting angry, as well as the pained wince that crossed his face. His mouth opened a little, but nothing came out and it closed again.

"Go ahead! Run away like a coward! Give up!" I felt a tear running down my cheek, but struggled to sound as angry and hurt as I possibly could.

"Kendra!!" Blake's horrified, also angry voice called out. "What're you doing?!"

I knew what the others were thinking. Part of me questioned why in the world I was saying this, but then a bigger part of me already knew. And if it worked, they could hate me all the wanted. "Well? Are you going to open your eyes??" _Come on… I know you're stronger than this! Fight it!_

Hearing a very low moan, as the plant began to weaken from the heat and smoke; I kept my eyes on his face, watching as his eyes seemed to shift under his eyelids. If I hadn't known better, I'd have sworn he was dreaming. Slowly, very slowly, his eyes opened. They were still heavily glazed, but as the creatures hold seemed to loosen on him a little, they grew more focused. He sucked in a clearly pained, shaky breath, but it was a breath none-the-less and I knew at that moment he would make it. He was breathing. As long as he remained breathing, he'd be ok.

"He's… He's awake…" Tori looked on in shock. Turning to me, her eyes narrowed a little, a slight understanding in them. "Did you…know this would happen?"

Pausing for a second as his eyes landed on me, I noticed they were filled with varying emotions. First, such raw pain and anger that made me bite back a wince. I didn't know exactly what it was I said, in particular that hurt him so much deeper than I intended, but I know I hit a nerve. Second, they seemed to narrow, as well, and fill with confusion. Opening his mouth, Hunter seemed to try to say something, but then stopped and hesitated.

The others took the fading back of the plant as their cue and rushed in, renewing their attacks with a vengance, and managing to take out several of the vines, working their way closer and closer to Hunter, who was still struggling with the plants overly tight hold, just to breathe.

"I don't know." I stated, turning to Tori. "I just knew I had to keep him…going to sleep…or giving up. I figured…if I could make him angry, he'd unconsciously fight it, just because he wanted to wake up and scream at me." Turning to Hunter, I tried to ignore the pain I felt, knowing I hurt him. Still, a small part of me was happy he was alright.

The plant loosened its hold even more and he slipped from its grasp, falling ungracefully to the floor, and curling up in a ball as he gasped for air.

"Bro!" Blake cried in pain and relief as he ran over to his big brother and crouched down behind him. "Oh, man! I don't think I've-Don't you ever do that to me again!" he called with a huge sigh, leaning his head over Hunter and laughing in immense relief. "I thought I was going to lose you!"

There was so much pain, and anger, that I knew was born of helplessness, and relief he was ok, and laughter just from nerves alone. Even the others seemed touched by the obvious heartfelt moment as Hunter managed to croak weakly to Blake.

"Dude, you need a shower."

The others didn't hear it, but Carly and I did, and obviously Blake did, and they all busted out in laughter. Me, I remained quiet, trying to sort through the myriad of my emotions. I don't think I'd ever been so worried, myself. I wasn't Blake, I didn't know Hunter well, and I wasn't related to him, and I still felt the immense relief, and a lot of the same emotions Blake did. It was a little disconcerting, especially knowing I'd have to face his anger later, for saying what I did.

Feeling a grasp on my arm, I turned to find Tori looking at me intently, lots of confusion but little to no anger in her eyes as she gently pulled me a little ways from the group, as the plant slowly died.

"So you only called him a coward to make him mad?" she asked softly, her gaze locked on the brothers. "To make him fight it? But why chose those words? Why call him a coward and bring up Blake in particular?"

"I knew they were close." I answered bluntly. "I don't think I was thinking. I saw his eyes close, felt his heart slowing, and all I could think of was 'he can't die'. Too many people need him, so I just lost it. I didn't mean to say such nasty things, but once I started it just seemed to hit me that it would make him angry and he'd fight it just for the chance to yell at me later."

"Be careful." she warned softly. "There's a lot about them you probably don't know. If you say the wrong thing… Let's just say they both still have raw wounds over things that happened in the past. Blake's ok for the most part, but Hunter can get pretty touchy."

_I noticed._ I thought vaguely.

"Hunter, are you ok? Do you need to be healed?" Shane asked quietly, a look of concern in his eyes.

Slowly moving into a sitting position with Blake's help, Hunter winced and glared at him briefly before shooting a look at me that clearly told me he'd rather not. It wasn't venomous or rage filled, but it was angry and hurt. I don't think he really picked up _why_ I said it. The glance from Blake told me he did, but still didn't like my choice in tactics.

_Though it wasn't like I had much choice._ Grimly I turned and began walking down the hall. I don't know what I was doing, but I needed to get away. _Or time for that matter, to think up another choice._

"Kendra?"

Ignoring Cam's voice I kept walking. I knew I could transform and run if I ran into anything, so honestly, I wasn't really worried about myself…much…and I knew that with Carly there, they'd be ok. They had to be, the world was counting on them!

"Hey!" Feeling a firm grasp on my arm, and my body being forced to turn around, I gasped in surprise as my eyes locked with startlingly clear blue ones that were filled with anger. "What're you doing? After all this, you're just gonna walk away?!" His voice was hoarse and he coughed a little. His face was pale, but slowly filling with color again as he seemed to be trying to regulate his breathing.

_All this…? _Was he referring to me calling him a coward? I really hoped not. I didn't think I could handle being confronted right away.

"Well? You led us down here to begin with, got us 'bonded' with our dragon spirits, insisted you help us at every turn, then call me a coward and walk away?!"

Ok, so he was talking the whole thing. _I guess I once again don't have a choice._ "I thought you'd be happy." I muttered quietly. But…was that really how I felt, what I thought? "No more dealing with me and my stupid attitude."

His anger seemed to fade a little, replaced by confusion, and I briefly noted the others were still farther down in the cave, talking quietly and trying very hard not to listen in. "You thought I'd be happy? Kendra, why'd you even say all that?!" His anger was back in full force. "You don't know me, how dare you call me a coward and suggest I'd ever willingly leave my baby bro behind!" Hurt replaced some of his anger. "Is that really what you think of me? You don't even know me but you think I'm a coward??"

"No!" I cried, trying to ignore that my voice echoed off the walls and the others spun towards us. I felt my eyes filling with tears once again. "No, I don't!" I hissed quieter. "I was just…."

"Just what?" he demanded quietly.

"I was trying to keep you alive!"

"By calling me a coward?? Gee, that's really going to encourage me to fight more!"

"No, dummy, by making you realize what you'd be giving up, like Blake!" Glaring at him now, I tried to ignore the prickle of tears in my eyes. "I could tell you weren't breathing! I could tell how tired and weak you were! I was trying to keep you fighting for his sake! No, for everyone's sake!" Taking a deep breath, I watched as his face filled with realization and understanding, his anger fading right away.

"You were _trying_ to make me mad."

"Bingo." I muttered saucily, looking at the ground.

"You brought up Blake because you knew that would make me mad, and I'd fight all the harder. It was all just to keep me from giving up."

"Now that we've established the obvious… It's really nice to know that in the short time _you've_ known _me_, you think I'd say that to you, at a time like that, and mean it. Very nice. It means I made quite the impression." Yanking my arm out of his grasp, I turned and walked on, biting my lip hard to keep from crying. I actually liked hanging out with them and being with them, but it always seemed like something was going wrong! If it wasn't Hunter saying something and peeved me off or hurt me, it was me saying something that hurt him and peeved him off…

"Kendra, stop!"

Shaking my head, I ran off. I could hear their voices calling to me, and their footsteps as they chased after me. Honestly, I was surprised when after running for a little ways, I heard them fall back and eventually, stop all together.

After running a bit longer, I slowed to a stop and panted, trying to catch my breath. Under normal circumstances, I was more than aware that Hunter would be able to catch up to me easily, but being hurt held him back. Looking around, I noticed it was almost pitch black. Even with my dragon senses, I was almost blind, and unfortunately, I didn't have a lighter, like Carly.

Still, taking a deep breath, I began to walk carefully, keeping an eye out for any sign of movement. The last thing I wanted to do was go back and face them right now, I needed time to clear my head. But I also didn't want to run into another of those plants alone, or Cerberus for that matter.

Giving a brief prayer for their safety, I stumbled deeper into the seemingly never-ending caves.

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Hope you liked it. Not smart of Kendra to walk off alone, no, but when you're upset, you don't tend to think straight.

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"What's she thinking?!"

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R+R please.

Thank you

Tenshi


	45. That's a BIG Dog!

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**Last time**

Still, taking a deep breath, I began to walk carefully, keeping an eye out for any sign of movement. The last thing I wanted to do was go back and face them right now, I needed time to clear my head. But I also didn't want to run into another of those plants alone, or Cerberus for that matter.

Giving a brief prayer for their safety, I stumbled deeper into the seemingly never-ending caves.

**This Time**

(Hunter's POV)

"What's she thinking?!" I cried incredulously, realizing we'd lost Kendra. "Going off alone when we have no idea what we're going to face??" _I don't think that of her! What if she runs into one of those plants? Or Cerberus?!_ "We have to find her!"

"Look, there's only one exit besides the one back to the building." Carly stated firmly, panting a little. "That's the one to Minotaur's Glade. Now Kendra might be crazy enough to walk off on her own, but she won't engage Cerberus in a fight, _if_ she runs into him, or any more Man Traps. So all we have to do is stay calm and make our way to the exit, I'm sure she'll wait for us there."

Somehow I was less certain. I hadn't meant to go off on her, it was when she called me a coward and accused me of leaving Blake behind. She had no idea! That's the last thing I'd ever want to do! He's my baby brother, I'd never abandon him!

It hurt. It hurt that she called me that, that she said all that. I did honestly think she was serious. I mean, come on. We don't know each other, how was she to know everything I'd been through?? Then again...after all we'd been through, she did kind of have a point. I should have known she wouldn't have a reason to call me a coward.

"Bro, are you ok to keep going?" Blake asked quietly.

Glancing at my bro, I nodded a little, sucking in a deep breath and standing up straight. Feeling the pain in my chest, I winced a little and only dared to breathe very lightly until it faded. Bruised ribs, maybe cracked. Still, I was determined to keep going and began walking after Carly, who seemed to hesitate when she saw the condition I was in.

_I don't think that of her._ I thought, my mind playing over her accusation. _I don't think she'd say something like that and mean it, I just... I guess I was caught off guard. I didn't know what was happening! How was I to know it was all a ploy to keep me breathing and fighting?!_ Frowning a bit as we crouched down and began to work our way through a narrow part to the cavern, I almost hissed in pain when it compressed my ribs, and though I was able to hold it back, I saw Blake's head spin around to me in concern.

_Oh yeah, higher senses._ I thought a moment, remembering that we could see and hear what others couldn't. _I actually forgot about those._ With everything that was going on, surprise, surprise, I'd forgotten all about what our mission here was. "Are we still going after the Eye?"

Pausing a moment, Carly shook her head, her back to us before continuing on. "No, it was only an object. Something to give you aim towards. If you could collect it, you'd have been here for a couple of days and been through a lot of dangers, making you adjust to your abilities faster."

"So...it's not important?" I asked after a moment.

"Nope. It's just a stone." came her singsong reply.

I felt my eyes narrow. "And we couldn't just meditate because...?"

"Funny, we asked her the same thing." Shane mused from beside me.

"And like I told your friends, it would take a much longer time that way." she stated in slight irritation. Looking over her shoulder, she narrowed her eyes warningly, although there was a sparkle of amusement in them. "And don't you get mad at me! It seemed like a good idea at the time! How was I to know Cerberus might still be around?!"

"Or that we'd bee attacked by Curls-"

"Coeurls." Cam corrected me absently as he ducked under a particularly low rock.

"Right, whatever." I muttered. "_Coeurls_, and zombies-"

"Ghouls and Ghasts." Carly muttered with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, nice, do you mind?" I snapped, getting royally irritated. "Curl cat things, zombies, whatever! And then that plant... And you couldn't have known Kendra was going to sulk off!"

"No, I didn't, but it doesn't change the fact that you're actually somewhat used to your senses, and you've beaten all those threats-"

"Not on our own." I cut in, biting back a grin when I sensed Carly getting annoyed at my interruption.

"You still beat them." she cut in before facing forward and crawling out the other side, hopping down a bit to a lower floor before straightening up. "And adapted to your senses. That's what matters, right?"

_I don't know. _Remaining silent, we continued through the caves for a while. Eventually, I noticed it was getting a little lighter and paused. "Is it supposed to be getting lighter?"

"Yeah, we're near the-"

All of a sudden, a massive sound echoed through the caves, causing us all to cover our ears and dive out of the way of falling debris from the ceiling. For a moment, I froze. It sounded eerily like a cross between a bark, growl and a roar.

_Wait..._ "Tell me that wasn't..." I trailed off when I saw the look on Carly's face. "Oh man."

Feeling the ground shake violently, I staggered a little, watching as Tori fell against the wall and Blake stood next to her to protect and help her. The others all staggered, too, including Carly, and as I turned and looked down the hallway we'd taken, I saw a cave entrance beside it that I hadn't noticed before.

From down that cave, I could see a massive figure bounding down it towards us. All I could see was shadow, thanks to the low light, but it looked like a dog. A very, very, VERY big dog!

"Guys, maybe we shouldn't stick around..." Shane called slightly.

"Can we make it if we run?!" I called back to Carly.

There was silence for a moment, and I looked over my shoulder to see her looking uncertainly off into the darkness. She wasn't looking off towards the end of the cave though, no. She was looking back the way we'd come, fear and worry clearly etched into her face.

"Carly?" Tori asked quietly.

"Kendra." was all she said.

Feeling like a total goon at the moment for actually forgetting about her, I followed Carly's gaze. "Do you think she made it out?"

The Cerberus was getting closer and closer, growing larger and larger as it did so. We could now make it out as it approached, gray and pale, almost ghostly, with red eyes and large fangs that portruded from it's snarling mouth. Well, ok, times all that by three, and you have what we were facing.

"Dude, three headed hell hound." Dustin muttered with wide eyes. "If we're going to run, we'd better do it now!"

"We're not running!" I called stubbornly, turning fully to face the approaching dog as I tried to force myself to calm down. "Not if there's a chance Kendra's still in the cave!"

"What if she's not??" Shane called as he dropped into a defensive stand.

"No matter what her mood, Kendra would've waited for us at the exit if she'd made it here so far!" Carly quickly answered him.

"Wait, how'd we get here before her, anyways?"

"Simple, there's a lot of paths. If she wasn't paying attention, it's easy for her to go down the wrong one and get held up."

"You mean she could be lost?!"

Taking a step back, Carly stared down the dog as it slowed, growling at us. "Not lost, just held up. All the paths lead here or the other entrance."

Stepping back so that I was with the others, I shot her a pointed look. "You'd better be right!" I hissed before turning to the others. "We'd better morph!"

They all shared a look and I saw Blake's face twist into the same confusion I was feeling. Obviously I'd missed something.

"What?"

"Morphing doesn't work here-duck!"

Jumping to the side instinctively, I watched as Cerberus' teeth narrowly missed us. Upon closer inspection I could easily see what looked like hundreds of tiny wounds all over it's body. They looked vaguely like teeth marks and I couldn't bite back the shudder as it withdrew it's head to get ready for another attack. _Great._ "And you didn't tell me this before?!" Glaring at the others briefly, I groaned and took up a defensive stand. "So now what??"

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Hope you liked it.

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_Here, doggy, doggy, doggy!_

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R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	46. Here Doggy, doggy, doggy!

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**Last Time**

Jumping to the side instinctively, I watched as Cerberus' teeth narrowly missed us. Upon closer inspection I could easily see what looked like hundreds of tiny wounds all over it's body. They looked vaguely like teeth marks and I couldn't bite back the shudder as it withdrew it's head to get ready for another attack. _Great._ "And you didn't tell me this before?!" Glaring at the others briefly, I groaned and took up a defensive stand. "So now what??"

**This Time**

(With Kendra, Kendra's POV)

Yeah, so I wasn't paying attention and now I had a couple imps floating around me. They were a little different from the ones I was expecting before. They were almost kind of...friendly...for clouds of mist that floated around. If it wasn't for the occasional high pitched whistle and slight chitter, I'd swear I was alone.

"You wouldn't happen to know the way out of here, would you?" I asked lightly, giving a slight look around since it was so dark, I couldn't even see the misty creatures. "And I'd prefer the way out that leads me to the Minotaur's Glade, not to any waiting monsters or back to the building."

There was a squeak and the presences seemed to fade. Shrugging a little, I kept going the way I was heading. Part of me was a little worried. I had no idea what the others were facing, or if they'd be alright, and I'd actually left Hunter hurt! I was already feeling bad for yelling the things I did, and snapping at him, I knew he didn't mean to hurt me, it was all just a misunderstanding.

"Don't you just _love_ misunderstandings?" I asked myself sarcastically, feeling a little surprised when one of the imps came back. "Oh, welcome back."

This time the mist was glowing softly, a light shade of purple as it followed along side me. It didn't do much to light the area around us, but it did remind me I wasn't alone. We walked on for a ways longer, or rather, I walked and it floated, the imp chittering now and then, but otherwise it was silent. I knew by this point that I'd taken a wrong turn, and grew even more worried about the others, and wondering.

_Will they wait for me? Will they go on ahead?_ I remembered how adamant Hunter was about Carly and me coming to live in their world, but even though I was considering the idea before, the situation seemed complicated by what happened before. _Are they ok? _

I wasn't worried about being lost, I knew as well as Carly did that all paths down here led to one entrance or the other. My worry was being held up, or running into more Man Traps.

Hearing a particularly loud chitter, I turned to my glowing 'friend' and watched in confusion as it seemed to sink a little out of the air, and almost move to hide behind me. Though it had no actual solid form at the moment, other than the mist, I could clearly tell it was scared.

But...by what?

"What is it?" I asked softly, looking around carefully. With a frown, I closed my eyes and concentrated. I tried to ignore the uncomfortable tingle that happened when I accessed my powers, and raised my right hand. Carefully channelling a small amount of light energy into my hand, I created a temporary light out of it, feeling a little drained as I let go of the spell and opened my eyes. "...There's nothing here."

Yeah, I could have done this before, but it drained me when I had to fight that weird tingling feeling. That's why other than healing, I didn't like to rely on my powers down here, and why I more than understood the others not wanting to use theirs unless they really had to. It started as a tingling, but increased constantly until it became beyond painful.

Regardless of my words, the imp sunk lower behind my back, and if I hadn't known better, I'd have sworn it shook.

I took a long look around the cavern anywhere where my eyes could see. There were burned and destroyed remains of Man Traps, as well as small, unknown burned bodies I didn't recognize. Those little ones reminded me of what I'd heard about imps, about how they could take on physical forms at times, and I felt my eyes narrow. "Nothing _living_ any ways." _Well, no wonder it's afraid. What did this??_

As if to answer my question, a loud, resonating growling bark sounded through the cavern, causing it to tremble from the echo. Then a series of tremors happened, and I distinctly heard the sound of something big and heavy running down the hallway. For a moment, I froze in terror, thinking it was coming in my direction, but then I quickly noted as the sound seemed to fade a little, and I knew it was running in the opposite direction.

"Oh crap!" My eyes widened as the imp took off back in the direction we'd come. "Oh, gee... Thanks for the support!" I called back as I faced the direction I needed to go.

The smell of blood, and sickness due to infections, burned and decayed flesh, fear, pain and sorrow all surrounded me. I could feel a small breeze blowing past, making the smell almost suffocating to me. Then, when I really began to concentrate, I could make out the sounds of a fight ahead. There was another low growl, and my heart skipped a beat.

_Cerberus?_ "Why does it always have to be a monster?" I groused, walking hurriedly through the remains of the monsters and hoping none were left alive. "Why couldn't it be a kitten, or a puppy?"

As I marched down the hallway, I could sense the fight getting closer. I smelled pain, and fear, no blood though, at least not human or dragon clan. I could hear Hunter calling out for Blake to watch his back, and heard a grunt as one of the guys must have been sent flying. As I got closer, I couldn't help but wonder...

What could I do to help? My spells were more or less light, as in healing. I could fight, though I was no master at it, and I could heal, but other than to keep us alive a little longer, how could that help the others?

_At least... They're alive, for the moment. They're still here..._

But, why? Why were they still here? If they were at this point, they must've been close to the edge of the path, by the opening that led to the Minotaur's Glade. With Carly with them they would have no problem getting through it, and they could have avoided Cerberus, unless, it was waiting for them, and blocked their way out.

Getting closer, I tried to think fast. What could I possibly do to help? There _had_ to be something! I could heal them, maybe distract Cerberus... If I didn't feel guilty already, this would have changed all that. _I left Hunter hurt, and all of them alone to fight this thing!_ I dropped the light I held, stopping as I was immediately plunged into darkness and waiting for my eyes to adjust the best they could.

_I need to help them, I have to try!_

Gathering my strength, I closed my eyes, trying to think of what spells might help me. They were all light based, and no one knew if Cerberus was immune to light energy, but like I mentioned before, they were mostly healing spells. I could try a spell that would create a webbing made of light energy, that might slow it down, but not for long.

With a frown and a slightly frustrated growl, I glared down the dark path ahead of me. "You just had to run into it, didn't you??" I asked quietly, my mind flashing to Hunter for a moment. "Only you guys could run into quite possibly every single monster down here!" Still, I couldn't help but giggle a little, wryly, at their luck.

Concentrating again, I imagined the shape of my dragon, only in a much larger form than the others had seen. Pouring my physical form into it, I felt my body changing as I went and before long, I opened my eyes and flexed my large claws. Stretching to my fully height, I winced a little as my wings pushed against the ceiling, and frowned to myself. This could get cramped. Then I shook it off, stalking down the path slowly, trying to get a feeling for what I was going to face.

_Here, doggy, doggy, doggy! Time to pick on someone your own size!_

With that final thought, I took off down the path, hoping the size advantage would help, and still struggling to think up a back up plan, in case it didn't.

_Hang on guys!_

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Hope you like it.

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_Well I wouldn't have clawed you if you didn't almost step on me!_

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R+R please.

Thank you

Tenshi


	47. Very Big, Very Unhappy Dragon Clan

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**Last Time**

_Here, doggy, doggy, doggy! Time to pick on someone your own size!_

With that final thought, I took off down the path, hoping the size advantage would help, and still struggling to think up a back up plan, in case it didn't.

_Hang on guys!_

**This Time**

(At the fight, Normal POV)

"Does _nothing_ keep this thing down?!" Hunter cried as he dodged another swipe. It was obvious from the look on his face that he was in agony. He was clutching at his stomach and panting, his face almost white.

"Bro, you should get out of here!" Blake warned, standing a little in front of him as Cerberus turned and took a swipe at the others with his claws. He visibly tensed when the claws came closer than he would have liked to a certain blonde Water Ninja, but refused to move.

Being able to sense his brother's emotions, Hunter frowned, knowing he was torn between protecting him and going to protect her. "For one, Blake, if I even considered doing so..." _Which _would_ make me a coward._ "What's to stop me from being attacked somewhere else?" Pausing a moment, he stared at his baby brother's back, his own feelings torn. _Although I can completely understand how he feels._ "And second, she needs you." He watched as Blake tensed up and couldn't hide the smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.

"You know who I mean, bro. Go on, I'll be ok."

Looking over his shoulder, Blake gave Hunter a clearly warning look in the faint glow of the fallen torch. "Don't even think about it." he stated lowly, no sign of amusement of joking in his tone or expression. "I'm not leaving you."

"Blake-"

"No, Hunter. You're hurt, I'm not leaving you." he insisted firmly.

_And look who was telling me to look after myself._ The blonde Thunder Ninja thought dryly. With a sigh, he shook his head. "Fine." Turning back to Cerberus, he watched as it seemed to cock it's head. It almost looked over it's shoulder as if listening to-

"Do you hear that?"

Pausing a moment, Hunter listened carefully, not jumping when everything seemed to get more sensitive, louder and clearer. He could hear the sound of wind through leaves, only this time didn't have the same feeling of dread that he did before, and he could smell fresh air, which he knew was coming from the Minotaur's Glade. It took a moment longer, but he soon picked up the sound of another very big creature, and as he listened, it was getting closer.

"Oh god, don't tell me." Turning to Carly, Blake's eyes were wide. "There are _two_ Cerberus'?"

Frowning for a moment, she seemed to be sensing something and she suddenly grinned. "No, but a very big, not-so-happy Dragon Clan."

_Dragon...Kendra!_ Spinning back in place, Hunter watched as the biggest dragon he'd ever seen, in real life at least, came bounding down the hallway, glaring at the large monster in front of us. _So she hadn't made it out. _With a quiet sigh of relief, he watched as she swung a claw at Cerberus, knocking it into the wall. _And she's ok._

"We should help her." Carly stated unsurely. She was staring at how Kendra was hunched in the small cave, being really just too big for it, but she seemed to refuse to back down.

"Didn't you say something about being able to change our sizes as dragons?" Blake asked curiously. When Carly nodded, he raised an eyebrow at Kendra. "Then what's with her being too big? Why didn't she just...uh, shrink down a little?"

Carly snickered at the 'shrink' comment before shaking her head. "It's not like we can customize to every entrance and cave and hallway alike. I meant we can be little dragons, man-sized dragons, or large dragons."

"So there's no in between?"

She shook her head again and frowned. "That's why I'm not sure about transforming and joining her. You guys need space, too, and we might get too crowded to fight effectively."

Cerberus swung back and caught Kendra in the arm, drawing blood and making her growl deeply.

"Well we have to do something!"

"Hunter!" Turning to him, Carly's eyes lit up, showing she had an idea. "You transform. Even in a smaller form the fire power might distract it."

"Didn't you say it was immune?" he called back, jumping to the side and rolling out of the way of some debris.

"I said it might be!" she answered as she ran to the others. "Blake, you stay, too, in case we need your help. The rest of you, go to the entrance and wait just on the other side!"

They seemed to hesitate for a moment before they silently agreed and ran off, giving the two thunder brothers and Carly room to make their move.

Quickly explaining her plan, or rather...experiment, Carly grabbed Blake's arm and dragged him out of sight. Hunter took a moment to take in everything he had to do before running back a bit and closing his eyes. Doing as he did before, in order to change into a human, he reversed the process and imagined his current form flowing into his dragon one. He chose the man-sized dragon, simply because it would be easier to move and dodge any counter attacks. Plus, he wasn't meant to _kill_ Cerberus... If it happened, that was a bonus, but the plan was just for him to distract it long enough for Kendra to get past.

Carly made a quick mention of how there was an energy barrier down here. Cerberus was a guardian, but not a creature really of light or dark. In the Minotaur's Glade, only 'good'-hearted people and creatures could pass through the barrier, where as the Guardian, and all monsters couldn't. So if Kendra could pass, they all could run from Cerberus.

It wasn't easy for Hunter, as he was now fully conscious of walking on all fours, and being thrown off-balance by the massive wings folded neatly on his back. His already heightened senses were thrown into super high gear, and he couldn't help but shake his head as he tried to focus and understand what to do next.

_She said to look within myself for a thread of crimson energy, follow it and harness it's powers... How the heck am I supposed to _harness_ the powers?!_

Taking a moment, he jumped to the side when Cerberus was knocked back by a slightly stunned Kendra, and before he realized what he was doing, he reached out and clawed the leg in front of him in irritation. It wasn't deep, think about how a cat swings at you sometimes playfully, or when they're irritated or mad. It was more or less like a light scraping of the claws, deep enough to cut, hurt and bleed, but not really _deep_.

Then he paused. Making a face, though he briefly wondered how it looked in his dragon form, he held up his claws and flexed them one at a time before shrugging and jumping out of the way again, this time when Cerberus turned and angrily snapped at him.

_Well I wouldn't have clawed you if you didn't almost step on me!_ he thought in irritation, vaguely sensing amusement and choosing to ignore it when he realized it was Blake. _...It's not funny._ he groused.

"Come on, Hunter! Hurry!" Carly called urgently.

Seeing that Kendra had distracted Cerberus again, he quickly closed his eyes and concentrated. Being a ninja, it didn't take long to put him into a meditative trance, despite all the distractions around him, and he soon found that crimson thread.

_Cool, it looks like fire._

Which made sense, seeing as how that was his elemental power. Following it down mentally, he noticed it getting thicker and thicker until he finally came to a big red 'pool' of it. He could feel his body trembling from the effort and the slightly painful tingle when he tried to reach out and take it, but he fought against it, determined to do as Carly said.

As if being able to read his desires and thoughts, the power flared up briefly, sending a painful shock through Hunter's system. He couldn't even cry out, though he felt his body convulse and his mouth open in an attempt to scream, but the pain quickly subsided, and he unsteadily opened his eyes.

_WHOA!!_

Cerberus' back was on fire, and the creature was howling angrily as it thrust itself against the walls madly, trying to extinguish the flames.

"Kendra! Now! Run past it!" Carly screamed as she and Blake ran out of their hiding spot. "Hunter, you need to shrink!"

_Easier said than done._ He thought irritatedly as he backed off. He vaguely remembered the instructions on that, however, and moved as fast as he could, becoming very unnerved as he felt his body shrinking.

As he focused again, he found an equally sized Kendra staring at him from a few feet away and blinked a moment, feeling his face heat up. Hearing Carly calling to them again, he turned and after making sure Kendra was _right_ behind him, he ran off to the entrance.

_This is so weird, but...also kinda cool, I guess._

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Hope you like it.

I couldn't help but grin when I had Hunter swipe his claws at Cerberus and then flex them. He reminded me so much of a cat, LOL! Even the facial expressions I imagined were so cute! LOL

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"Whoa, _those_ are the minotaurs?!"

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R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi


	48. Decisions, Decisions

**JuseaPeterson** - Normally I reply to these reviews the way they show up in my email, but I wanted to focus on one thing you mentioned before I forget. I know you didn't like the chapter of Hunter trying to talk to Kendra about coming back. I didn't like it either and would love to change it, but have no idea what to put in there or how to have it go, and I don't dare try to change it because this story is too long as it is. But my main note is that I'm sorry you didn't like it, this chapter might not be too good, either, since it focuses on that talk, as well. I wanted to warn you ahead of time.

No, but I do realise Carly sounds more Mary-Sue-ish with the powers. And she's had no interaction with Cam, which I am working on. Unfortunately, the interaction really won't start until the sequel. Carly is a lot like Kendra in her personality, only more upfront about how she feels and what she thinks. Telepathy is fun to work with. LOL.

I didn't like that chapter, so I wanted to try and diffuse a little of the tension by making it seem very out of character to the others, and having them bring it up. Or Blake, since he's the only one who knew about it at the time. Even Hunter wasn't sure where it came from, so...well, I don't know. LOL I had the image from the end of... (forgets the episode's name) the Wipeout Episode. That's where it came from. Funny, I mentioned the Caro trees and yet, have had no Ranger interaction with them. :S I guess I just didn't really care for them as monsters, and at least Lothor had interaction with them. Plus I still have the sequel. I actually didn't have any ideas for that, but I'm thinking about a big twist at the end of this fic. I'm not sure yet.

Would it be a bad thing to somehow have Lothor taken out of the picture but not killed and Vexacus becomes the new big bad? Maybe have Lothor turn kind of good (well, not evil, anyways) and leave? I just want to give the idea some air and see what people think. Actually, I was thinking Shane, but who knows? Blake won't transform until the main island against Lothor. I'm glad that chapter went well, I wasn't sure what people would think about Kendra yelling that stuff to him and the reactions. Blake will think on that some more yet, I think.

Kendra's not a hero, but she also won't sit back while her friends are in danger. It makes sense. I'm keeping myself aware of Mary-Sue qualities to avoid. LOL. I'm glad you're liking Carly more :) Well, picture how an irritated cat would look. Ears go back, and eyes narrow into slits, then it'll swipe at you half heartedly. That's what I saw of Hunter as a dragon. LOL!! I didn't want Blake to run away from his injured brother because Tori fell, but at the same time, I didn't want him to ignore her, either. And Hunter...would realize that and try to get Blake to go to Tori.

**GinaStar** - Well it's cat expressions and movements that I think about, when trying to describe the dragons, so picture how a cat would do things and you have what I'm going for. And lol, cats are good at the cutest and funniest expressions.

**BlueDolphinz** - LOL it's tentative but they like each other. Better than Carly and Cam, who seem to have no interaction so far. O.o Yeap, that was a big update, unfortunately, this update is back to two chapters since I have been low on time and haven't written too much. It doesn't help I'm getting all kinds of ideas for Stargate Atlantis (don't let me forget to do a plotline note for half cat demon people ...hmmm...), so my muse is skipping out on me for Power Rangers, but I'm still going.

Oh and this will have a sequel (probably already mentioned this), done to a Day After Tomorrow theme with a Resident Evil twist. Everyone will be split up, with different jobs, and more teams will be mentioned. Just a side note, who knows what teams still have their powers and can realistically come back to help? If I don't end up doing them, it's because I don't know the teams well enough. This includes Jungle Fury, Mystic Force, and maybe some of the past teams. I don't know the characters too well.

Both Marah and Kapri are pretty decent (thanks to **Jusea** who mentioned this a long time ago and gave me a whole new perspective on the duo), they've just been raised evil. LOL Cerberus is not meant to be a fan favorite. And I know, but I don't want them at each other's throats one day and all over each other the next, so I'm working on transition. Acquaintences to friends, friends to crush, crush to love... That's what I'm hoping for, anyways. I'm glad you enjoy the Tori/Blake, I enjoy putting it in there. LOL I guarantee the minotaurs won't look like the Ghasts. LOL

And I know! (squeals) Dragon Hunter is utterly adorable, as you'll see in future chapters. ;) LOL. Dragon Blake is cute, too!

OMG THIS NOTE IS LONG!! I'M SORRY! Just a little more to go and then the chapter.

**Pinklen98** - Hunter's shirt was lost in the jungle with the harpy zombie thing. LOL. It's been gone a loooooonnnggg time! And come on, the team would grow on anyone. Have you SEEN those boys?! (slips into dreamland and sighs happily) LOL Hahahahaha! Yes, the innocent shirtlessness is loved by everyone. Oh I'm bad for that! LOL! Don't worry, I'd never kill of Hunter. Might come close, and he might get a little cut/bruised, but not killed. (Puts on nurse outfit and runs to treat those cuts and bruises (EVERY girl's dream!)) LOL!!

Oh wow, I don't know. I was hoping to have it done by 60 chapters, but I'm now almost at 70 and only closing in on the final battle for this story. Then I have a sequel to do, which should be shorter. And Lothor? Give up? Hm...

LOL I didn't know what else to call them but didn't want to use a common name. Man Trap just came out of nowhere! LOL!! The puppy's bathroom, huh? Wow, I hope she doesn't STUMBLE in there, either! O.o LOL!! I know, if something bad can happen, it's a Power Ranger rule it WILL happen! LOL If there's a monster to run into, no matter how hard they try to get past it secretly...They'll have to fight it.

Glad you all like the story. Probably close to 20 chapters left (ROUGH guestimate), we'll see. Sorry for the long note (that's what happens when I try to reply to every review, hope you don't mind) On with the chapter!

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**Last Time**

As he focused again, he found an equally sized Kendra staring at him from a few feet away and blinked a moment, feeling his face heat up. Hearing Carly calling to them again, he turned and after making sure Kendra was _right_ behind him, he ran off to the entrance.

_This is so weird, but...also kinda cool, I guess._

**This time**

(Blake's POV)

I still can't get over this whole new ability to turn into a dragon. Sure, I haven't really tried it yet, but watching Hunter turn into a man-sized rather peeved looking dragon was sweet! Especially when his eyes narrowed in irritation as Cerberus almost stepped on him.

Then he did something that seemed more…petty and…cat-like, than I was expecting. He struck out at Cerberus! But no, not in the 'I'm-gonna-rip-your-throat-out!' kinda way, but like he was just snapping! He _scratched_ the monster! Not struck, not cut or gashed, not clawed, _scratched_!

I almost wanted to laugh, despite how serious the situation was. I mean, his eyes narrowed in a catty 'Don't-touch-me' kind of way, he seemed to growl, and he just _scratched_ Cerberus!

"You saw that, right?" I asked Carly, trying not to laugh. I could hear Hunter's voice in my mind, reminding me about our telepathic link.

…_**It's not funny.**_

That almost undid me, the slightly childish tone in his voice, and the clear pout.

Of course, we had to call his attention back to the battle as Kendra took another hit. I felt a little bad for forgetting that she was facing Cerberus alone and getting hurt. She was dazed and injured but kept fighting with determination. I watched as Hunter closed his eyes and felt his power slowly rise, then it just suddenly spiked really high.

I wasn't the one channeling that amount of energy, but it sent a sharp pain through me that made me clench my jaw in an effort not to cry out. Faintly, I caught Hunter's body convulsing a little and his jaw opened wide as if he was going to scream, showing me he was in massive pain of his own.

I couldn't help but frown in worry. Was this supposed to happen? Was he supposed to be in pain? Turning to Carly, I watched her wince before she glanced briefly at me. Shaking her head a little, she gave me a look that stated we'd talk about it after we got to safety.

When I turned back, Cerberus' back was completely covered in flames and it was throwing itself at the walls trying to put them out.

Carly chose that moment to grab my arm and drag me out of our hiding spot as she called to Kendra and Hunter, and I watched as they both changed to smaller dragons before turning and running after us.

As we passed through the entrance to the Glade, I had to blink in shock at the sudden light and fresh air. The first thing I noticed was a light touch on my arm and the familiar scent of Tori's perfume. Once my eyes adjusted to the bright light, I turned and smiled down to her slightly, taking her hand with my own and giving it a slight squeeze.

It was sunny here, with a regular looking sky and a large field, though not as large as the one my brother and myself crossed before, with more trees going throughout it and sunlight filtering through them and the surrounding woods.

Like it's name there were minotaurs walking around, but strangely, they didn't remind me of the monsters I was expecting. Maybe I thought they'd be zombies, or that they'd be somehow disfigured, but they looked kind of…neat.

"Whoa, _those_ are the minotaurs?!" Shane hissed quietly.

They walked on two legs, hoofed and shaped like you'd expect of half men, half bull creatures. Only the top halves were almost fully human. The males had short hair in light blondes or dark brunettes, the girls had long hair either straight or curly, and they all seemed to have flawless skin and blue eyes.

Some had bows and arrows, or sword, and others seemed unarmed at all. They were all clothed in long silver robes and had small horns on their heads.

"This is so cool!" Dustin murmured quietly, his eyes almost falling out of his head as he looked around.

"Carly!"

A little girl with long blonde hair and blue eyes came running over awkwardly on her hoofed feet, her arms outstretched to the bigger Dragon Clan. She seemed like an average little girl, probably less than ten years old, except for the legs and feet.

"Malia!" Carly called slightly, bending down to pick up the little girl. "How are you?"

"I'm ok. Mommy and Daddy are watching over the Eye like you asked."

"It's just a stone." the Emerald Dragon Clan laughed. "It's not magical or anything."

Behind her back, I caught Hunter glaring at her as he turned back into himself. "Yeah and it took you long enough to mention that."

Kendra turned back next, looking a little torn. I think she was still upset about what she'd said to him in the battle with the Man Trap. Feeling a pain in my heart at remembering her words and his reaction, I think I felt about as torn as she looked.

On one hand, I understood she did it to try and save his life, but she had no idea what wounds she opened! Just as easily as it could have made him fight and survive, it could have caused him to feel guilty, give up and die, too. She didn't know that. I was all too aware of it.

But now wasn't the time to think about that. Making a mental note to talk to her later, I turned back to the goings on.

"You mean it??" Malia asked with wide eyes and a pale face.

Nodding grimly, Carly put her down and watched as she ran off.

"Ok, I missed that." I stated in confusion. "What did she mean?"

"I told her about the supposedly extinct monsters not being extinct."

"You told a girl, who couldn't possibly even be ten years old, that extinct monsters were still around?" I asked incredulously.

"I told the little girl that the 'biggest baddest meanies' were still around. That's what the children here call the monsters." she stated with a raised eyebrow. "And she's gone to find her mom and dad to come talk to us."

_Biggest, baddest meanies?_ Raising my own eyebrow, I shook my head, deciding I really shouldn't have asked. "Ok that's…good. What happened with Hunter before? With his powers?"

I caught Hunter's head spin in our direction with a confused look at my question. No doubt he'd been wondering the same thing.

"He channeled too much." Looking at Hunter she winced a little. "The power can be a great asset, but if you don't channel it right, or if you accidentally channel too much of it, it can be really painful."

"And _now_ you tell me." he stated with a frown.

"Hunter…" Now Kendra cut in. "We didn't have time to give you a proper lesson." Glancing briefly at Carly, her eyes narrowed a little before she sighed. "It was a last minute idea to distract Cerberus so we could all get away."

His eyes widened briefly before he turned away and walked over to Cam and Shane.

"Don't worry, when there's a chance, we'll help you learn to control it." Carly called slightly as Malia came rushing back, two older Minotaurs following in tow. "Garin, Reesa. I'm glad to see you're well. These are my friends."

After introducing us to them, and explaining what was up, the Minotaurs were more than happy to take us to the alter the Eye sat on, and took care of a lot of the minor injuries as Kendra tentatively went over and healed Hunter's ribs.

The Eye was an amethyst colored crystal, with a very dark streak in the center that looked for all the world like an elongated pupil. It sat in the center of the alter, about the size and rough shape of a football, but like Carly stated, it seemed perfectly normal, other than it's obviously unusual appearance.

Glancing back to my bro, I could tell that unlike other misunderstandings in the past, this one still really bothered them both. Things still seemed awkward between the two of them, but after she healed him, Hunter gave Kendra a small, tentative smile and nodded.

"We wish you good luck, Carly." Reesa, the mother of Malia stated quietly, a firmly look across her face.

Smiling wryly, she nodded. "Thank, but I think they'll need it more." She tilted her head slightly in our direction. "I'll contact you when we find anything out."

Turning back to us, she walked over and sighed. "Ready? I'll teleport us all back to the cave, and then Kendra can take you back through the underwater tunnel."

"Wait, _Kendra_ will take us back?" Turning to the said Dragon Clan, Hunter frowned. "I thought we spoke about this."

She looked a little confused and surprised for a moment before realization set in. "Yeah, we…did. I never actually really talked to her about it."

"I overheard your talk before." the red head stated calmly.

"Then you know that you and Kendra are coming with us…"

The two Dragon Clan girls shared an uncertain look a moment. Cam took that moment to take a couple steps forward. He seemed a little uncertain himself but the look quickly faded as he addressed everyone.

"Well Hunter did talk to me about it. He didn't have a chance to explain everything, but he did bring up a good point. You both have done a lot for us, and to help us protect the earth from Lothor and his goons… But you're stuck living here, with only really the Minotaurs for company."

"I come and go into your world all the time." Carly muttered.

"It's not the same." he stated calmly. "I will be honest, I don't know how having you two staying at Ops will work, but…"

"What he's trying to say is come with us." Tori jumped in as Cam trailed off. "We can work out the living arrangements when we get there."

The looks remains uncertain on their faces.

"I don't know. All my life I've _lived_ here." Carly pointed out. "Kendra would fit in better."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What?"

"Kendra, you used to live in that world."

"Yeah and came here and became Dragon Clan and adapted to living here." Frowning, she gave Carly a stern look. "Don't you dare pin this on just me."

"Look, we meant _both _of you." I cut in before they could argue more.

"Kendra, you said you'd think about it." Hunter stated quietly.

"And you said you wouldn't push." she fired back, looking upset. "It's been a year for me, since I was last in that world. And a life time for Carly, I think you can understand why we're hesitant."

"Yeah, I do, but I'm not just gonna let this go."

They were both silent for a moment, clearly thinking about the decision ahead of them. It obviously wasn't easy to just say yes, but I think we could all tell they really did want to come with us.

"If Kendra goes, I'll go with her." Carly muttered quietly.

The brunette Dragon Clan remained quiet longer, as if she was torn between defiantly stating 'no', and giving in and saying 'yes'. Her eyes clearly showed she wanted to come, but her stance was awkward, as if she was ready to bolt at any moment.

It was a little unusual, really. She'd shown a lot of courage and confidence at times, and for her to seem so...uncertain, it wasn't like her.

"I guess..." Biting her lip, she shot a look to Carly, as if trying to assess something. "Alright. We'll go."

"Then it's agreed." Hunter stated with a look as if he was hoping it was really that simple.

Hesitating only a moment longer, Carly clasped her hands together, closed her eyes and began the spell to open the portal.

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Hope you liked it. They're FINALLY getting to go home!

Oh and I realized that for those who watched anything containing Centaurs and the like, that they sound like that, but I didn't want the Minotaurs to be the monsterous versions you hear about so often.

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"I just…need time to get used to this. After a year there, this is kinda weird again."

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R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	49. Finally Home, Now What?

I had NO idea what to do for this chapter, so...um...sorry? O.o

SORRY! SORRY! SORRY! GOMEN! (That's sorry in japanese) GOMEN NASAI! (that's I'm very sorry in japanese) I know the last chapter, the thing with Hunter and Kendra was way OOC for Hunter and sorry that sucked. I hope you'll all forgive me for that, I'm trying to focus on keeping him in character for the rest.

Oh, and, I had quiet the interesting dream last night about being a witch, riding a motorcycle, talking to Hunter and having him follow me cause he knew I wasn't normal. Kelly showed me where the brakepads were for my bike, but I couldn't find them so when no one was looking, I magically made some appear in my hand. LOL!! O.o I love morotcycles but would never drive one. Now having Hunter chase me... That could be fun. (Grins evilly). LOL Anywho, ON WITH THE FIC!

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**Last Time**

"I guess..." Biting her lip, she shot a look to Carly, as if trying to assess something. "Alright. We'll go."

"Then it's agreed." Hunter stated with a look as if he was hoping it was really that simple.

Hesitating only a moment longer, Carly clasped her hands together, closed her eyes and began the spell to open the portal.

**This time**

(Back in Blue Bay, Tori's POV)

Well, things have certainly been…interesting since we returned to Blue Bay. It hit me earlier that though Kendra had come back to 'our' world, she'd gone to the track to find Blake and Hunter, probably out of a heightened sense or from knowing bits of their dreams, and then to Ops, and then back to 'their' world again. Now, she seemed a lot more uncertain.

"Are you sure you're ok?" I asked, looking at her nervous face.

We'd taken Kendra and Carly to Ops, where Carly and myself went to get some clothes. Luckily, Kendra had some money saved up since she went to bond with her Dragon Spirit, so we didn't really need to worry about money. All she had to do was place a call to get her account activated and work out a few details. Actually, that was probably the most 'interesting' part of the day.

"Yeah, I'm ok." She certainly didn't _sound_ ok, but she bravely put on a smile and shrugged.

Now Kendra was dressed on a pair of slim fitting jeans and a grey t-shirt. Carly was in black jeans and a brown tank top. The rest of us were in our Ninja garb and we were standing at Ops.

"Look, I know that you're uncomfortable here-"

"_That's _an understatement!" she muttered quietly, but still loud enough to hear. "I just…need time to get used to this. After a year there, this is kinda weird again."

"I can imagine. It's only been a couple of days for us, and I know I'm still expecting one thing or another to jump outta nowhere and attack me." Blake stated with a shudder.

"What? Like those spiders?" Hunter asked mock innocently, grinning when Blake shuddered again and turned to give him a mild glare.

"_Not_ funny."

I couldn't help but giggle at his reaction, but even so, I found myself wondering exactly what they'd faced and wishing I'd been there with them. Blake was never afraid of spiders. I knew that, we all knew that. So to make him shake like that, they had to be pretty bad.

Then again, bugs under the skin… That's enough to make anyone shudder.

I wouldn't admit it so easily, probably because I knew it was a little ridiculous, but I felt bad that I wasn't there with Blake and Hunter on their trip. Yes, I knew it was _their_ task for a reason, and yes, I knew that it meant _they_ _alone_ had to do it, but I couldn't help but feel guilty. All those horrible monsters, I wish I could have done _something_ to make it all easier for them, for _him_.

"So what next?" Dustin was sitting at the table, looking torn between being bored and being hyper, by the way his leg was shaking. Ok, yeah, he just seemed bored. "I mean, like, are we going right to the island?"

Kendra and Carly exchanged a glance before Carly sighed.

"We should, but…after everything, maybe we should take a little time…"

"We can't take too much time." Kendra stated with a frown. "They're in the island, they've already gone too far. We don't want to chance-"

Hunter nodded quickly, folding his arms over his chest. "I agree. It's too dangerous."

"Yeah, but everyone's exhausted and burned out. We all need to rest, or we won't last at all against anything on this island. There's gotta be something we can do!" Blake was frowning in worry and frustration. "We can't let Lothor win."

"And we can't fight him in the state we're in." Hunter countered, sitting at the table as his eyes clearly showed how exhausted he was. "Especially when we don't even know what we're capable of yet."

"And for that you meditate." Carly finished abruptly, sitting across the table.

"And for _that_ we need to be rested, too. I dunno about you guys, but dude, I am _way_ too tired to meditate right now!" he stated with a raised eyebrow.

Pursing my lips for a moment, I watched as Blake moved to sit beside his brother, hesitating only a moment before moving to sit beside him, only a little further away. I wanted to sit right beside him, but it kind of hit me how I'd been practically all over him since this mission began. _Can't really blame me._ I thought, feeling my face heat up as Blake flashed me a slight smile, although his face showed confusion. _He's just...well..._ For the lack of a better word... _perfect._ At least, he was to me.

Sure, ok, so our start wasn't too great, but I know that he really didn't mean to betray me, and that given a choice, he'd never do it again. I trust him. I didn't for a while, I'll admit, as much as I wanted to, but I do now and have for a long time. Then, the fact that sometimes he seemed like he was more than one person... I mean, there were times he seemed so confident and dangerous, it gave me chills, but then he'd look at me with those big brown eyes and this totally innocent expression, and I'd feel myself melt. Or he'd get this mischevous smirk on his face and I wouldn't be able to help but smile back. Well, I think that's enough of that, but I just didn't want to be clingy or hanging off him all of the time. Granted, he didn't seem to mind, but I also didn't want to annoy him.

Imagine my surprise when he shifted a little closer to me. Subtle, but definitely noticeable from my point of view.

"Then maybe we should take a day to rest." Seeing the looks he was getting, Shane held up his hands. "I don't mean a week. Just 24 hours. Time to rest, eat, relax a little, train and get as informed as we can, and then head out."

"A little break, but not a long one." Pausing for a moment, Kendra nodded. "So...everyone just goes home and we pick up from here tomorrow?"

"I kinda wanna know more about what to expect on the island." I stated curiously. "Like you said we'd fight the same monsters?"

"Yeah, and more. There were some you, _surprisingly_ didn't run into." she stated with a raised eyebrow. "Like the Caro Trees for one. But basically, yeah, the same thing."

"No Cerberus, though." Carly added thoughtfully.

"Good!" Hunter stated loudly.

"Um, other than that..." she trailed off and shrugged.

Nodding a moment, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. Part of me wanted to run to the water and surf, another part wanted to sleep for a week, and then there was this nagging part that just wanted to go and get this over with.

"So... What now?" It seemed Kendra's mind was following mine. She looked lost as to what to do next.

"We have half a day. If we're going to take a 24 hour break, we can work in some meditation and relaxation today." Cam put in thoughtfully. "Then after a good night's rest, we can do training and a little resting tomorrow before we head out."

_24 hours won't make that much of a difference, will it?_ I thought doubtfully. _Lothor's on the island, but the defenses will at least slow him down, I'm sure. If we keep going at this speed, we're just gonna overdo it and end up burning ourselves out._ "Meditation first?" I put in lightly.

"That's probably best, but only for Hunter and Blake because they need to find out what all they can do."

"Aww, man!" Hunter groaned loudly and rolled his eyes. "If I start snoring, don't be surprised and don't blame me. I did warn you I was too tired to do this today."

Kendra and Carly giggled a little, though it was obvious Kendra was trying to look sympathetic.

"I'm with you all the way, bro." Blake muttered with a shake of his head and a dry grin.

Nudging his arm a little, I smiled when he turned amused eyes on me. "Oh come on, it won't be that bad. And once you get it done, you can relax."

"And I'll come and hunt you down at the beach."

I couldn't help but blush, thinking he knew me all too well. I had made up my mind to relax on the beach, surfing and enjoying the sun for a bit. "I'll see you there." I stated lightly with a small grin, pushing him lightly as I got up and left with the others.

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Hope you liked it

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_**She's still pretty shaken. Go easy on her.**_

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R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi


	50. A Hunter and Kendra Talk, Part 1

**PinkAzn** - Welcome back! Oh, it's ok. I know all about being busy. A lot of my chapters were written ahead of time, or I wouldn't be this far in the story, LOL. There's times I'll take a whole week off writing. And that's sometimes just laziness for me! OMG! 5:11 am?! Well, I just recently pulled the same thing on a Stargate Atlantis fic. I read all 80 something chapters, and it was like 11pm-4:30am! O.o Hope you slept well afterwards, and hope you dreamt of shirtless Hunter and Blake!

Oh I know, short little snout, big blue eyes, ruby scales, big wings, and tiny little clawed hands. (squeals) KAWAII! (cute in japanese). Yeah, they are the main pairing, LOL. Their relationship is growing slowly. Good thing for sequels. -.-' LOL WELCOME BACK! Glad you like it so far! :)

**GinaStar** - Swim trunks...or a towel only? LOL Or a speedo? LOL!!

**BlueDolphinz** - When I wanted to write the minotaurs, I thought to myself that everything the boys had run into, was evil. Why make the minotaurs evil, too? So I decided to try and make them more docile and friendly. And it's ok, I know Tori and Blake are a cute couple. The raptors would be more like the lizard folk in this fic. LOL

**Pinklen98** - There where? The island or at home? He's neither. He's on another island. LOL. We'd never be that lucky, Lothor would fry the tree... (Recalls the porky pig thing with the thunders being captured in a popcorn bucket)...and probably find a way to eat it, too. -.-'

**JuseaPeterson** - Totally Blake-like, to laugh at his brother. But then, Hunter in my mind, like that, was absolutely adorable. LOL. I think you'll like chapter 51. It's the sad flashback that Hunter has, and I tried to focus on his and Blake's relationship, as well as his thoughts and feelings. It's sad, but I love it.

I know, it's ok. I just thought I would warn you ahead of time. Honestly, I didn't like it either, but there was no way around it. I'm just trying to figure out if I want to make Lothor turn into a big evil dragon, or someone else, and have Lothor leave. Like, as if Earth wasn't worth the trouble, to him, anymore, and he just decided to try someplace else, or quit all together.

No, I was on the bike. Hunter was in a cab, I think. I don't remember now. LOL Thank you. (Bows and tows a towel-clad Blake over) A token of my appreciation. (Hands the towel-clad Blake over) LOL! Ohhhhhhhhhhh, I have cute Hunter and Blake banter around chapter 68 or so. LOL A chapter that focuses on it, more than anything, I think. LOL.

**Magiclighting** - Oh I so agree! It's the eyes that got me first. You might like Windian Baby, too. It also deals with Dragon Hunter and Blake. Thank you, it was just a random idea that hit me, and now it's one I don't want to let go of. I hope you slept well, like I stated to **PinkAzn**, I had just done the same thing, reading an 80 something chapter story, and then passing out in my bed after. LOL.

Oh god, John's a god! LOL I love everything about him. He's cute, funny, sarcastic, bold, loyal, strong but not invincible... I'm hoping to start fics with him, soon. I have ideas started, but want to focus on this story and it's very possible sequel, first.

Here are the next two chapters. Grab tissues, plushies, munchies and anything else you might need. ON WITH THE FIC!

(And thank you for your reviews, I'm glad you like the story!)

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**Last Time**

"And I'll come and hunt you down at the beach."

I couldn't help but blush, thinking he knew me all too well. I had made up my mind to relax on the beach, surfing and enjoying the sun for a bit. "I'll see you there." I stated lightly with a small grin, pushing him lightly as I got up and left with the others.

**This Time**

(Sometime Later, Hunter's POV)

Ok, so that was a little...disappointing. Here I was, meditating and trying to figure out what we were looking for, and instead of some surprise dream or something really cool, it was like we could hear their voices. My dragon had a very deep, almost raspy voice, and didn't seem to like to talk much, but I think I kind of had a little more figured out about my powers.

There was no big cool dream, or massive field or mysterious location. There were no other sounds, or smells. Just the dragon and me in a big black void. Then again, that was impressive enough.

"So who's planning on doing what next?" Carly asked lightly as she, Kendra, Blake and myself exited Ops and began the trek through the woods to my truck.

Yeah, I know what you're thinking. Four people in my truck? Well it probably would have been a tight squeeze, but Kendra and Carly volunteered to 'Go Dragon' as they put it, for the trip back. Tori needed her van for the others, so it was the best we could do seeing as how neither Kendra or Carly had a vehicle.

"Well I was going to stop by the beach for a bit." Blake spoke up, obviously ignoring the grins on our faces as he mentioned that. "Ahem, and then I was thinking of stopping by the track for a little while. Or maybe vice versa."

"I'll just head off to the track after dropping you guys off." I put in.

Carly and Kendra hesitated for a moment and it hit me that they were new here. It made sense they might not have a lot to do, or know other people to hang out with.

"Well, I have my mountain climbing gear still..." Carly muttered quietly. "I can always use that."

Kendra remained quiet, and it looked like she was hoping we'd forget about her.

I felt uncomfortable, and I honestly don't know what compelled me... "It's probably not that exciting but you can come to the track with me if you want." I offered quietly, trying to ignore that my voice probably didn't sound all that inviting. And don't get me wrong, it wasn't out of a sense of obligation that I offered. I was kind of hoping she'd come along.

Glancing at me briefly she looked unsure a moment, as if she wasn't sure if there was a hidden message in my words or not. When I caught her eyes, I felt a small smile tug at my lips and watched as she hesitantly smiled back.

I think part of me knew she was still thrown off by everything that happened, still uncomfortable around me because she was afraid of getting into another fight.

_Blake..._ I still wasn't sure about this whole telepathy thing, but since it was new to us both and neither of us really kew how to put up mental walls, I was hoping he'd be able to pick up my thoughts. _Can you catch Carly's attention and take her a little ways ahead?_ I was just thinking and trying to will it to my brother. I had no idea if he got the thoughts or if I was wasting my time, but after a moment he glanced at me very briefly before his gaze locked on Carly.

Immediately, I nudged Kendra's arm, trying to be subtle but at the same time forceful enough that she'd know it wasn't an accident, and fell back a bit, slowing my pace to allow Carly and Blake to go ahead as he got her attention. I didn't pay any attention to what he was talking to her about, so I missed every word he was saying, but luckily, Kendra had caught my point and fell back beside me.

_**Bro...**_ Blake's voice came through about as uncertain as I'd felt when I tried to contact him. _**She's still pretty shaken. Go easy on her.**_

'Go easy on her'? Did he think she was in trouble? _I'm not gonna yell at her or anything._ I thought with a raised eyebrow.

_**Still...**_ Pausing a moment, he briefly stole a glance in our direction. _**Just...go easy on her.**_

Keeping that one eyebrow raised, I nodded a tiny bit before turning my attention to Kendra, who was looking out around the woods. I had a feeling she knew I was communicating with Blake, and was trying to give me some privacy. "Hey, listen..."

She turned to me with a start, probably not expecting my voice.

I couldn't help bit grin a little, feeling the heat rise up in my face as it relaxed into a genuine smile. "I meant it. You can come to the track with me if you want."

For a moment she just stared at me, her face carefuly neutral of emotions, and she only turned away long enough to step around a tree stump before turning back. "I don't think I've ever been to a motocross track before." she mused out loud. "But it sounds kinda cool."

_Cool._ "If nothing else, it'll give you something to do, and if you get bored, I can always give you a ride to the beach or something." I still had that nagging feeling. I knew darned well I was getting close to her, fast, and it didn't feel wrong. I mean, it just seemed a little awkward, I wasn't used to opening up so easily. Ok, so more than a _little_ awkward...

She smiled a little, and I think she seemed a little more relaxed but then she stiffened up and her smile faltered. "Yeah, listen, Hunter..."

"It's just an idea." I stated quickly, thinking she'd changed her mind.

"No, no, that's not it." Waving a hand for a moment she seemed to blush a little, that uncomfortable look magnifying in her eyes. "That's not what's bugging me at all. It's...you know, before."

I stopped walking, vaguely sending a thought to Blake to keep going, knowing he'd sense my presence falling back. "Before?" I honestly had no idea what she was talking about. "Before what?"

Kendra stopped as well, a few feet ahead of me and turning slowly as if she really didn't want to be talking about this. "When we were dealing with the Man Trap." she clarified quietly.

Sensing Blake's discomfort and worry, I tried to send a reassuring feeling through our link, but knew well enough to know he'd sense the confusion and pain those words sent through me. _Bro, it's ok. Just go ahead, we'll catch up._ I tried again, struggling to remain firm and reassuring. "The Man Trap." I repeated out loud, dreading what was coming. I think part of me knew we'd have to have this conversation, but I was hoping it wouldn't be for a long while yet.

I couldn't help it, the moment I realized what was coming, part of me wanted to run.

"Look, I know I said some really...harsh things..." she offered uncomfortably. "I didn't mean them, you know that, right?"

"I know." Sighng, I forced myself to think about everything again, the situation, the bad place I was in, and her reasons for saying what she did. "Blake's an imporant part of my life. I...wasn't doing so good and you just mentioned that to push me to fight harder." As a ninja, I knew that it was a concept of mind over matter. I had to convince myself I could push myself farther without going too far and hurting myself...

"Yeah, that was what I was trying to do, but I should have found a different way. I don't know you guys, but Tori mentioned that there were sore spots, wounds you both still suffered from. Things that I could have said that would have hurt you worse than I meant."

Immediately, I felt a small pang of betrayal towards Tori for saying anything, but it faded as quickly as it came. I knew she was in the right to say what she did, and it was obvious from the confusion Kendra was displaying that she didn't know much if anything about it. "It's...our parents..." Now it was my turn to be uncomfortable. Ok, _more_ uncomfortable. It still hurt to think about what happened, and talk about it. "We both lost two sets of parents, our only family other than each other."

"It's a sore spot." she stated quietly, her eyes shining with a new, slight understanding and guilt. Glancing to the ground, my heightened hearing picked up when she sighed. "I'm sorry, I didn't know. I think I understand now why you both seemed hurt so bad from my words."

"I don't remember much about my parents." I admitted quietly. "They died when I was pretty young. I met Blake when I was about 10, I think, maybe a little younger." I couldn't help but pause as I tried to recall that far back. "The Bradley's took me in and took us to the Academy to train. I'm not sure anymore how long ago it was, but they went off to a mission maybe a year later, and never came back."

Kendra was looking at me again, and through the heartache I was feeling, I could see the sadness in her eyes. But she didn't try to reassure me, or say a word. I'm not exactly sure why or how I knew, but some part of me knew she knew I needed to just talk about it all. I kind of needed to spill, I guess.

"For years we wondered what happened to them, we had a funeral, but there weren't any bodies to bury." I could feel the tears in my eyes and took a deep breath, mentally cursing myself when it came out shaky. Closing my eyes, I recalled that day so clearly. _We didn't even have their bodies to bury!_

"It was raining..."

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So...hate me yet? Next chapter, will it be someone else's POV, someplace else? Or will it be Hunter's memory? Will I be evil enough to make you wait a whole extra chapter?

LOL!! The next chapter will be Hunter's Flashback

WARNING! Next chapter may be HORRIBLY sad to some people! Make sure your tissues are prepared! And I hope I have them in character.

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"It takes more courage to face your pain."

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R+R please.

Thank you

Tenshi


	51. A Sad Flashback

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**Last Time**

"For years we wondered what happened to them, we had a funeral, but there weren't any bodies to bury." I could feel the tears in my eyes and took a deep breath, mentally cursing myself when it came out shaky. Closing my eyes, I recalled that day so clearly. _We didn't even have their bodies to bury!_

"It was raining..."

**This Time**

**Flashback**

(Normal POV)

The sky is so dark and threatening, thunder rumbling in the distance. In a small group, Hunter and Blake moved through a cemetery with Sensei Amino and a few of the other Ninjas, friends of their parents, all dressed in dark civilian suits. Everything was gray, as if the world was crying with them. They approached another, larger group of people around two coffins waiting to be lowered in the ground.

Blake, a boy of not even ten, stood in his suit, wiping his face frantically as tears coursed down his cheeks. "I promised to be strong." he muttered shakily, trying in vain to stop the tears. "I promised."

"Blake..." A young Hunter, his hair shaggy even then, and his face pale with grief and pain, turned to his new little brother. They hadn't known each other long, but the fact that they were all that was left of the Bradley family, despite being adopted, brought them a new link. One that was even stronger than anyone could have imagined. "Its ok." he said softly, his own eyes wet, but his expression showing his absolute refusal to let the tears fall. "Go ahead and cry. Remember what mom used to say? 'It takes more courage to face your pain, then to push it aside and ignore it'."

"But, I promised." The younger Bradley insisted as he stopped wiping his face, more tears coursing down his already red cheeks.

"Mom would want you to cry." he stated, choking on the words. _I want you to cry, to let it out. I wanna cry, too, but I can't._

He really did want to, but he was so afraid of starting and never being able to stop. He needed to be strong, not because of a promise, but because his baby brother needed the strength.

"I'll be the strong one." Hunter murmured as they grew closer to the caskets. To anyone else, it appeared he was saying the words to Blake, but honestly, Hunter thought he may have been trying to convince himself at the time. The tears shone so brightly, making his crystal blue eyes shimmer as if with an unspoken light. "I'll be strong for you, bro." _And for Mom and Dad._

Sensei Amino was speaking to some of the other people, claiming himself as the guardian to the boys, and in a sense he was right. He was always there, and they knew him as a father figure. He took them in when their parents didn't return he raised them and gave them even the faint semblance of a family; although Hunter was sure he knew the pain was always with them.

There were so many people. Hunter recalled friends of theirs from their days off from the Academy, but he didn't smile or even try to act friendly when they approached. Instead, he drew into himself. He was there for Blake, reassuring him, protecting him, but he said few words at all, and refused to speak to the strangers at all. He vaguely remembered hearing 'my condolences' so many times he thought he'd be sick, and so many people wanted to shake his hand or hug him.

_Why did you have to go away?_ Through all the haze, that was one question he remembered echoing through his mind again and again. Every time someone hugged him, he stood there, not returning it, not saying thank you, not doing anything. _You're really gone?_ It took several hugs before he even realized people _were_ hugging him.

As the people began to leave, he turned to Blake when Sensei went up to the front to say a few words. Hunter's mind wasn't on his Sensei, although he knew it should have been, all he could think of was Blake.

He was crying, crying hysterically. His face was red, his sobs were echoing through the group. It was still obvious in the elder brother's eyes that he was trying to fight it, but the harder he fought, the louder and more desperate his sobs became. He hiccupped, trying to breathe, and was close to hyperventilating.

Heart clenching in both pain and sympathy, Hunter moved and reacted for the first time. Walking the two steps to his baby brother, he gathered him into his arms and held him tight, rocking him as Blake shuddered and cried in his arms. "It's ok bro." he stated, his voice sounding so choked, and his throat raw from holding back the screams that wanted to echo forth.

The fact was, it wasn't ok. No one knew this was going to happen, no one knew they were gone or what happened at all. It was months since they just seemed to disappear, and no one held hope of them returning. Well, that's not entirely true, Hunter and Blake, both boys knew the other was still hoping their parents would turn up and yell 'surprise!'

Then they'd be mad, scream, throw tantrums, and then go on living like any other family.

"Hunter..." the voice sounded so weak. "You're not crying."

No, he wasn't. He wanted to, so badly, but he couldn't. He lost track of everything, control over his body, over his mind, over time, even. He had no idea how long he stood there, watching as the last of the people threw white roses on the empty but closed coffins.

No one even knew there were no bodies inside.

A little dirt was thrown on. Some people wanted the boys to go up and 'say goodbye' as they put it, but neither boy could bring themselves to go near the inanimate pieces of wood. Harmless the coffins were, but both boys associated them with death, and were terrified of them. Terrified, but it was mixed with a hatred. Those coffins represented that their parents were never coming back. They were so scared, and they hated those wooden coffins.

"It takes more courage to face your pain." Blake said softly, his voice rough and choked with sobs as he couldn't quite stop crying. He was hugging Hunter back so tightly, as if afraid of losing him. "Hunter, cry."

Sensei hit a button on the platforms the coffins were sitting on, and slowly, inch by inch, they began to lower into the ground. _That_ was when he finally cried. He didn't sob, he didn't collapse, but the tears coursed from his crystalline eyes and down his pale cheeks to soak the white top and black coat.

"Am I...supposed to say goodbye?" he asked quietly, not sure why he was asking. Part of him still hoped they'd find his parents.

"Hunter, Blake."

Numbly, the blonde boy looked up at Sensei Amino, not saying a word or moving a muscle. He felt Blake shift and knew he was looking as well.

Smiling kindly, though it was clearly a sad smile, the elder man nodded a little. "Always remember, even if they aren't here with you in body, they will always be with you in spirit."

_But I want them here in body._ Still he couldn't bring himself to say the words. He stole a last, long glance at the sinking coffins and wanted to run away, to forget this was even happening. Then the arms around his waist tightened, reminding him of his little brother, and he felt more hot tears trickling down his cheeks, the painful sobs sitting at the back of his throat, hurting him. Yet, he still couldn't let go.

It had started to rain as Hunter held his trembling little brother closer, the cold water washing away the hot tears, even as more fell. A gentle breeze brushed through the cemetery as a woman offered an extra umbrella to Sensei before nodding sadly to the boys and walking off slowly under a man's umbrella. They were soaked, and Hunter knew they were beyond exhausted.

"I wish they would...come back." Blake muttered through a sob, his voice almost a whisper. "I miss them so much."

_Me too._ Hunter thought, barely registering as he stated it out loud.

Carefully reaching down, Sensei Amino took Blake's hand, leaving the other firmly in the grasp of his elder brother, and with a final look to the graves as a couple of cemetery workers came to start throwing the dirt back in, they left.

_I miss them so much._

**End Flashback**

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A shorter chapter, but I made it as long as I could and may have added too many details already. Besides it being very sad, I hope you like it.

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"I don't feel so good."

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R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	52. A Hunter and Kendra Talk, Part 2

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**Last Time **

Carefully reaching down, Sensei Amino took Blake's hand, leaving the other firmly in the grasp of his elder brother, and with a final look to the graves as a couple of cemetery workers came to start throwing the dirt back in, they left.

_I miss them so much._

**This Time**

(Kendra's POV)

"I miss them so much." Hunter's face was streaked with tears I was certain he didn't even know he was shedding. His eyes were lost in the pain of that day, telling me he was reliving it as if it was just today.

I couldn't say anything, feeling the pain that radiated off him. I knew that even with everything he'd said, a lot of which I'm not sure he was aware of saying out loud, I didn't have the whole story yet. That was the pain, but he often radiated anger as well.

I wiped my eyes, trying to remove the few tears that had fallen. All I could think was 'poor boy', but at the same time, I knew my thoughts would be seen as patronizing to him. He'd been so strong for his little brother, so brave, and I knew he couldn't have been feeling that strong or brave. Even now, as an adult and Power Ranger, he was looking at me with such vulnerable eyes.

I finally broke out of the trance his eyes had me locked in. Walking slowly forward, I remained quiet, knowing that as soon as I said a word, he'd break out of his own trance and his walls would go right back up again.

He'd spoken of being lost, wanting to cry but being unable to. Well, now he was crying. It wasn't a full out hysterical sob, but he was facing his pain, and I didn't want him to just push it aside again. Somehow, I knew he would if he snapped out of it. I don't know, but I think part of him was afraid to face that pain.

Honestly? I didn't know exactly what I was doing. I was confused myself, lost in the images his own words had conjured up. Before I knew what I was doing, I was wrapping my arms around his neck and hugging him tightly, cradling him in my arms and rocking a little on my feet. Brushing my hand through his sandy hair, and trying to ignore how my mind noticed how soft it was, I struggled to try and soothe him without saying a word.

He was shaking, and as soon as my hands touched his shoulders, he stiffened up, but to my surprise, he didn't pull away. That doesn't mean he relaxed, however. He remained stiff, not moving to pull away or hug me back, and still trembling.

Daring, I made a soothing noise in the back of my throat, as close to a purr as I could in my human body. It probably sounded weird, but I know that purring helps. It relaxes and soothes, I know it did for me, when I was little. When I'd be upset, I would go to my cat and pet her, relaxing when she'd start to purr. Not the same thing, I know, but... He still didn't move, but I felt a little of the tension ease out of his body, and I purred a little louder befor speaking. "Shhhhh, Hunter. It's ok."

Finally Hunter moved. I heard the sound of metal hitting the ground and jingling, and knew it was his keys. "I don't feel so good."

I couldn't help but smile wryly. "You're drained, you're probably gonna-"

Before I could even warn him, he shifted and shrunk. There was a bright flash, and when it faded, a pretty weepy-eyed dragon was laying in my arms, his wings almost hanging limply off his back.

"Change." I finished lamely. Looking into his eyes, I watched as his walls came back up, but he didn't withdraw completely like I thought he would. He laid in my arms and I felt no tension in his body. _He must have drained himself worse than I thought_. Bending down and grabbing the keys, I carefully shifted him so he was laying against my chest, his body draped up towards my shoulder with his little claws hanging on to the strap of my top.

Then I paused.

_If I take him to them now, Blake and Carly will be able to tell he was crying and that he's upset. Blake will have a cow, and probably start yelling, and Carly will stay quiet-thank god she's good for that._ "Um, what do I tell your bro when we get there?" I questioned hesitantly, knowing Hunter wasn't one for wanting to show his more vulnerable side in public. He wanted to seem strong and in control, at least, from what I could see.

Huffing a little, Hunter's tail swung absently against my stomach and thumped me once.

"Ouch!" Hissing a little, I firmly grabbed the end of his tail and ignoring his squeaking protests, and held on to it so he couldn't hit me again with it.

I kind of got the sense he was apologetic, probably about hitting me with his tail, but also kind of irritated that I refused to let go of his tail now. Still, he remained motionless, and I could sense he was still in pain.

So, I didn't really like how his face was against my shoulder and I couldn't see his face, but I stayed quiet about it.

I'd already started for the truck again, following the faint smell of motor oil that I recognised as Blake, and Carly's familiar smell, and hoped that I'd be able to explain to Blake when he freaked about his brother being upset and in dragon form.

It didn't take us long to get there, I guess we were closer than I'd originally thoughts. Strangely enough, Carly had a knowing look in her eye, and Blake looked sad but understanding to see his bro upset like that.

"Well..." Hesitantly he took his brother in his arms and looked at the truck a long moment. "I guess you girls don't have to 'Go Dragon'." he stated quietly, trying to keep the mood light but failing when the choked pain showed through his voice. Taking the keys, he slowly made his way over to the driver side and got in.

My thoughts were a blur. I knew I still didn't have the full story, and it was obvious I wasn't going to get it from Hunter any time soon, and in a way that was a good thing because my mind was still running over the horribly sad tale of the funeral. I heard Blake's words, and had a feeling Hunter had explained to him what was going on, since that seemed to be the only logical reason he wasn't flipping out that I was left alone with his 'big bro' and came back with him reeking of pain and exhaustion.

As for Carly's knowing look, my guess was that Blake must have at least explained a little of what was going on. It only made sense as to why she wasn't confused, or worried.

I think my reactions were mechanical. I walked slowly over to the passenger side, barely registering when I climbed into the truck and sat in the middle, waiting for Carly to climb in and close the door. Hunter was snuggled in a ball in a crimson colored towel on Blake's lap.

I couldn't help but smile the way the towel acted like a blanket for him and he seemed to be sleeping. The smile didn't stay long, however, I was still stuck on this whole situation.

"He told you about the funeral." Blake stated, rather than asking, not even starting up the truck as he slipped the key in the ignition. "About what he remembered, but he didn't tell you about after that, did he?" Shaking his head a moment, his knuckles gripped the steering wheel tightly. "No, that's right, he didn't." he muttered to himself.

Now I frowned deeply, vaguely aware of Carly's sense of confusion and worry. "No, he told me about the funeral, and that's it." I answered softly, not giving in to the urge to practically beg him to tell me more. Morbid curiosity, maybe, I knew I should have been more than grateful for everything Hunter told me, but I couldn't help but wonder what had filled him with so much betrayal and anger.

It wasn't a blind rage, I could tell that. He was hurt, had this look of fear in his eyes when we first met that I was only now picking up on. I think he was afraid of getting hurt again. Whatever it was, he became defensive, pushing people away in order to protect himself.

"It was Lothor." Blake spat the name with such anger. Not hate, not rage, but anger and pain...

I knew from those three words that Lothor was the cause of the anger in them both, as well as probably the betrayal, since I could tell the others would never do that to them. Somehow, I couldn't really help myself. "It's always Lothor." I muttered darkly. "He's attacking the world, causing so much suffering and pain." _Somehow..._ "I'm not surprised it would have something to do with him."

Glancing at me briefly, Blake nodded, his own eyes dark with grief and anger as he glanced down and placed a hand on Hunter's back, smiling a little when he got a little grumble and shift for that.

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Hope you like it, shorter, yes I know, but it's more about what they're going through emotionally. Chapter lengths will vary, as will chapter action, LOL

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_Told her what? Bro?_

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R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi


	53. Chapter 53

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**Last Time**

Glancing at me briefly, Blake nodded, his own eyes dark with grief and anger as he glanced down and placed a hand on Hunter's back, smiling a little when he got a little grumble and shift for that.

**This Time**

(Blake's POV)

_Yeah, it's Lothor._ I thought as I kept my hand still on Hunter's back.

Before they got back to us, I was able to sense Hunter's pain and was immediately ready to kill. I thought maybe they'd been attacked, though I think I could tell it wasn't a physical pain. I was about ready to stomp into the woods, find them, and kill whoever was hurting my bro when he contacted me. His words and tone told me a lot of what I needed to know.

**Flashback**

_**I told her.**_

Frowning a moment, I stood by Carly at the truck, trying to ignore the heat in my face as I tore myself from a one-sided conversation she was having about Tori and how we were so cute together. I kept trying to tell her we were just friends, but she had this grin and kept insisting that I should tell Tori how I felt about her.

But I shook it off quickly, turning towards the woods and feeling the worry that was already there, grow. I was able to tell long before this something was wrong, but I left it up to Hunter, trusting him to call me if he needed help. Now, hearing his words, I realized that it wasn't something that was really _wrong_, but just... I don't know. I didn't like that he was in pain, but at the same time, I knew it couldn't be helped. He needed to face his pain, that's the only way to get over it.

_Told her?_ I thought back, tearing myself out of my mixed thoughts and feelings. I'd faced my pain, and though it was still there, it wasn't as bad, I think. _Told her what? Bro?_

I could feel my own eyes watering at the pain I felt leaking through the link.

"Blake?"

Realizing I'd been ignoring Carly, I turned to her briefly. "Sorry, just talking to Hunter." I stated bluntly, turning back quickly. _Bro??_

The pain seemed old, somehow, and deep. I think I almost knew right away that it dealt with our parents, but I didn't want to jump to conclusions. Instead I waited impatiently for Hunter to explain.

_**I told Kendra about...the funeral. I didn't get to Lothor yet.**_ his voice was halted, showing me he was crying and barely able to think straight. His energy also seemed low, like he was struggling to keep the link active, and it worried me that it took so much out of my bro to talk about all this. _**I transformed. I can't...tell her about him. Can you?**_ There was a plea in those two words. _**Please, bro. I want her to know, to understand.**_

It was unnerving, to feel how vulnerable my bro was at the moment. _Yeah, sure._ I thought quickly, noting the grateful sense before the link shut off. I'll be blunt, I was scared. It had been so long, and we never really got right into details with what happened. I didn't, only because I knew it bothered him, but I could never guess just how bad it was.

**End Flashback**

_He wants her to know._ I thought vaguely to myself, as I took a deep breath. It wasn't easy on me to talk about this, but it was up to me to finish the story Hunter started. Glancing briefly at the keys in the ignition, I briefly debated with myself about starting up the vehicle and heading off, but I didn't think it would be a good idea to drive and talk about it.

Then again, sitting here, risking ending up in my dragon form as well was just as dangerous; it left the girls without a way home, unless one of them knew how to drive.

"He betrayed us." I blurted, getting to the heart of the matter. Frowning a moment, I felt my forehead crease as I tried to sort out my thoughts. "When he attacked our Academy, he had a way of… I dunno, messing with our heads. He convinced us that the Wind Sensei, who we didn't know at the time, killed our parents."

I could feel the tension rising in the truck and caught Kendra's horrified look.

"It was weird, but I think we were both so blinded by our anger, we just wanted someone to pay. We didn't even try to find fault with his words. We went out and set a plan into motion to get the Wind Sense so that we could take him to an ancient cavern where the souls of dead ninjas rested. There, we planned on him facing justice for their cold-hearted murder."

I knew Kendra wanted to question what I meant by 'justice' but I was surprised when she didn't and she merely nodded a little, looking lost in thought.

"But…it wasn't him." Carly was about as confused as Kendra.

"No, it wasn't, but we didn't know that. He, the Wind Sensei, Sensei Watanabi, insisted that fact, but we didn't want to hear it. Hunter and I both wanted someone to blame so badly, we were willing to believe anything, I think." My chest tightened when I thought back to the day I met Tori, and how I befriended her, only to betray her.

"We didn't know the others. We met them through Dustin, who we were using at the time to find the location of Ops." I couldn't hide the wince. _When I'd met Tori, I was more struck at how beautiful she was than anything else._ "We met the others shortly after. I befriended Tori, and set up a ruse to look like I came to her rescue in a battle and got injured. I never meant to hurt her, really." There was a pang of hurt in my chest when I recalled the betrayed and hurt look on her face.

Kendra frowned and I felt my eyes widen as this almost desperate need came over me to be believed.

"I didn't! Look, it was to get to Sensei. That's all I was thinking of. Trust me, I was kicking myself ever since it happened and I've been spending my time ever since wishing I could go back and erase the hurt I caused her."

Maybe it was something in my voice, maybe it was the desperate, sincere look on my face, I didn't know, but Kendra's eyes softened and Carly nodded with a strange look of understanding.

"Either way…" Sighing, I turned and looked out the windshield, wishing I didn't have to do this, wishing none of it had happened. "We ended up getting Sensei. We took him to the Cavern of Lost Souls, where the spirits of the dead ninjas resided, and planned to kill him in retribution."

I heard their gasps clearly, and felt as well as sensed their shock and horror. I just pretended not to, and kept going.

"Our parents stopped us."

"But…I thought you said they were…" Carly trailed off, clearly uncomfortable about talking about it.

"Dead? Yeah, they are, and they were then, too, but that didn't stop them." I couldn't help but smile when I was reminded of their images. Adopted parents or not, I loved them as much as if they were my real parents.

"Cavern of Lost Souls." Kendra was looking ahead, as if musing to herself, but jumped a little and looked down.

Feeling the warm ball that was in my lap, move, I looked down and grinned as Hunter sleepily crawled out of my lap and into Kendra's. He scrabbled over and wiggled as he went, stopping only long enough to let out a massive yawn and cat-like stretch with those tiny claws of his. I don't know if he was awake or what, but he quickly curled up into a ball again and slept against her arm, using her hand as a pillow.

"Yeah, they were there." Getting back to my story, I felt my eyes water a bit and took a deep breath to try and calm myself. "They told us it was Lothor who killed them. Then he had the nerve to come out and mock us about it, admitting they were right."

I felt the slight warmth resting briefly on my arm and became aware I was gripping the steering wheel as though I was going to rip it into pieces. Forcing myself to calm down, I took a deep breath. "He attacked me out of nowhere, but I think Hunter saw it coming. He took an old jewel that was used to communicate with the dead, the Gem of Souls, and used it to reflect the blast back at Lothor, temporarily draining him and causing him to fall back." _I thought for a moment Hunter was going to be hit. I don't think I'd ever been so scared!_

"So, for years you wondered what happened to your parents, only to be mislead by Lothor into thinking the Wind Sensei, killed them, and then find out _he_ in fact killed them." Kendra was making a face. It was obvious she was beyond angry but at the same time, so full of pain and confusion. "That's just…whacked."

"For the lack of a better term, yeah." I mumbled with a raised eyebrow. "Can you understand now, why Hunter is so wary about meeting new people, and why we're not exactly forthcoming?"

She nodded quietly and removed her hand from my arm, her arm moving to encircle the little ruby dragon in her lap almost protectively. Sighing a little, she looked down at him and used her index finger to gently rub the back of his head.

I couldn't help but grin a little, though I was hardly in a good mood at the moment. "You better be glad he's asleep, or I don't think he'd like that." I warned lightly.

"So you can use this Gem of Souls to communicate with the dead." She stated quietly. "Can't you use that to get closure? To see and talk to your parents one last time?"

"Maybe." Now I was frowning again as I vividly remembered the pieces of the gem flying everywhere. "If it was still whole and had power."

"It's not?" Kendra asked at the same time as Carly asked, "It doesn't?"

"No, it was able to throw Lothor's power back at him, but shattered because of it. It's gone now, we threw the pieces we could find out into the ocean." Here, I hesitated. _But… Hunter went back. He said it was to just see the place and think, but… Well, it's Hunter._ Part of me knew he was probably looking for pieces of the gem. The question was, did he find any?

"I'm sorry." Kendra's voice was subdued, and I could clearly tell she really was sorry.

Shaking my head a little, I reached down and rested my hand on Hunter's back a moment. "It's ok. Now you know what happened." Trying to smile at them, I took the silence and used it to gather my thoughts, turning the key in the ignition and doing up my seatbelt as I waited to get going. "Who's going where?"

Kendra's eyes widened momentarily. "Um, Hunter wanted to ride, but as he is now…"

"He's only like that until he rests, right?" I asked. "I mean, he can turn back before we get to the city?"

She seemed to think a moment before nodding. "Yeah and the way he talked about it, riding should do just the trick to help him relax."

I couldn't help but laugh at this. "It will, trust me. We both live to ride, it's our thing. Once he gets going, you're going to be in for a long wait."

"I think I can handle it." She said quietly, her face carefully neutral.

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So school is literally out for the summer, and I am just about done totally, myself. I only have one course to go before I graduate, so I graduate in the coming Winter or next Summer.

Hope you like it.

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"What happened to having the day off?!"

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R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	54. A Day at the Beach

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**Last Time**

I couldn't help but laugh at this. "It will, trust me. We both live to ride, it's our thing. Once he gets going, you're going to be in for a long wait."

"I think I can handle it." She said quietly, her face carefully neutral.

**This Time**

(At the Beach, Normal POV)

As Tori climbed off her board she grabbed it, and sloshing to the edge of the water, she looked around and frowned a little, her blue eyes narrowing at the bright sunlight. Taking a deep breath, she brushed her soaked, long blonde hair out of her face and trudged across the golden sand to her blanket, standing her board in the sand and sitting down before digging out her watch and looking at it.

_It's been a couple of hours._ she thought worriedly as she glanced around again. Honestly, she didn't know how long the boys would be meditating or if Blake was going to hang out with Hunter first or what, but she was starting to debate on calling him to see if he was ok.

"Tori, give him time." she muttered to herself, remembering Carly's words on having faith in him. _They might still be meditating, or something could have held them up. There wasn't a set time._ Pursing her lips, she grabbed a bottle of juice and took a sip before placing it back in the small cooler. "Well, I'm water-logged." Leaning back, she closed her eyes a moment, only to open them again and jump into a standing position when screams sounded.

"Oh boy, not now!" she groaned, seeing a pile of Kelzacks running along the beach in her direction. "What happened to having the day off?!"

Running in the direction of the Kelacks, she jumped and kicked one away before it could grab a young girl. Then, after ushering her off, she turned and punched another one, ducking low to avoid a nasty swing. _At least I know what these guys are capable of._ she thought as she jumped again and scissor-kicked two of them back. After a few moments, she quickly checked to see if anyone was around. Seeing the coast clear, she grabbed her morpher.

"Ninja Storm! Ranger Form! Ha!"

Closing her eyes, Tori felt her body being surrounded in warm water briefly and a powerful surge running through her. Relaxing into the morph, she opened her eyes as it finished and grabbed her ninja sword from her back. "Power of water!"

Racing forward, she moved with a new speed and fluid motion that enabled her to take out multiple Kelzacks in a matter of seconds. It didn't take her long, or much effort at that, and the last of the Kelzacks fell and exploded into dust. Looking around in confusion, Tori kept her guard up, knowing Lothor never attacked for no reason, and fully expecting a powerful monster to jump out at her from somewhere.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" she called slightly, her body tingling with the energy she was putting in to protecting herself. "Come on, I know someone's there! Lothor never sends the Kelzacks down alone!"

"What if it wasn't Lothor who sent them?"

Spinning in place, Tori raised her sword higher as she laid eyes on Kapri walking out from behind a boulder, Marah following right after.

"Well, well, if it isn't little Miss. Blue. Where have you guys been?" Marah asked cheekily, her eyes a litle less sure than usual. "I mean, we've been out here for a long time and you guys never showed up."

"And you didn't conquer Blue Bay?" Tori raised an eyebrow behind her helmet. "Gee, there's a shocker. Looks like you can't succeed even without us here to stop you."

"Oh we could have, Uncle's just hogging all the monsters for-"

"Marah! Enough!" Kapri glared at her sister a moment before turning back to Tori.

"Oh, please, don't stop on my account." Gesturing with her hand, Tori briefly frowned and realized she should have contacted the others, earlier. "I mean, if you're talking about Lothor going after this big forbidden gem full of power, on some obscure island... We know all about that."

"And _you_ haven't stopped _us._" Now Kapri seemed disbelieving. "That's a first. So, what exactly _have_ you been up to?"

"Just training." Tori paused briefly, hoping someone had seen fit to activate Cyber Cam and he'd sensed them here.

"Oh like we believe that. Where's lover boy? And all the others?"

Blushing behind her helmet, Tori was glad they couldn't see her face and she glared fiercly at Kapri for the comment. "First of all, none of your business. Second, they'll be here."

"Kapri... Maybe we should..." Shrugging a little, Marah's evil sneer had disappeared a little while ago, and now she looked confused. "Well, I dunno."

"You never do." her elder sister muttered quietly, rolling her eyes and lowering her sword. "Fine, look, do you know some girl named Kendra?"

Lowering her own sword, Tori frowned deeply, suspiciously, not liking where this was going. "Kendra?"

"Yeah, she appeared in our dreams, and told us that Uncle was going to do really bad things if he got the gem." Marah had spilled everything without even realizing it. Her eyes widened at the exasperated groan Kapri gave before she got a more determined look on her face.

"Really bad things?" Repeating what Marah has said, Tori made a mental note to have a talk with Kendra later. "You mean worse than he usually does?"

"Look, we're not friends, and I don't expect you to answer us, I just wanna know what you know of what's coming." Kapri was glaring, but her own eyes were filled with confusion and pain. "As far as we know, Uncle doesn't even know we're here. I just want to know, is he really gonna turn into a monster?"

"And turn us into monsters?" Marah added, her face haunted.

There was hesitation on Tori's part. She wanted to scream yes, and hope they'd stop helping him, but she didn't want to believe they'd do that. She understood family ties, she also understood that the girls had practically been raised by Lothor. Besides, there was no guarantee they'd believe her. If they were going to believe someone, it would be-

"It's true."

Turning her head, she smiled in relief as Cam, Shane and Dustin all ran up to her, unmorphed. Cam stood ahead of the others, looking firmly at Kapri and Marah, his eyes unyielding. Shane and Dustin both looked at the girls in confusion.

"Blake went into one of Hunter's dreams and met Kendra, he also confirmed what he saw. My father was there, too, and he confirmed it as well. If Lothor gets the crystal, he'll unleash a power on the earth that will kill millions and turn more into monsters, including you and anyone else around him."

"But... You're Power Rangers, how do we know you're not lying?" Marah asked as Kapri seemed lost in thought. "We're family, he won't hurt us."

"You know I'm not lying because my Father's a Ninja Master, the Head Sensei, he wouldn't lie, and I'd never put words into his mouth." Cam stated with a raised eyebrow.

Shane stepped forward next. "And how can you say he won't hurt you? I've seen him blast you both before, for failing him."

"A real family, people who care about you, wouldn't do that." Tori added in, her own heart thinking about her friends and family. She felt a little bad for the girls, raised by an Uncle who treated them miserably, and made enemies with a cousin who could take them in and show them the right way, if they gave him a chance.

"How do you know Kendra's not lying to you?"

"That's the question, isn't it?" Cam sighed and shook his head. "Because we gave her a chance and followed her lead. She helped us and gave us reason to believe her."

"Well... Uncle's family. We won't betray him." Kapri insisted, raising her sword again, although there was a very strong hint of doubt in her voice.

"Dude, then why are you here?" Dustin finally spoke up, his eyes the only thing showing the pain he was in.

"Because we wanted to find out what you were up to." she shot back angrily.

Shane opened his mouth to say something, but Cam held his hand up, his face suddenly impassive. "We were getting the power to stop you, that's all you need to know." he stated stonily before turning his back on them and walking away.

Hesitating a moment, Dustin shot a pleading glance to Marah, as if begging her to rethink her actions, before he sighed, turned and walked off as well.

Shane just stared quietly at Kapri. His eyes spoke volumes of things he wanted to say, but he kept them to himself as he suddenly turned and dashed off to catch up with the others.

That left Tori once again with the girls. It seemed weird, that everyone was walking away, leaving the girls on the beach to do as they pleased, but there was this aura of pain and tension in the air that seemed to reassure the Rangers that Marah and Kapri weren't going to attack anyone else. It seemed their mission was to draw out the Rangers; they succeeded, so now they were done.

With a sigh, Tori powered down and turned to the girls. "Look, I know you don't want to betray Lothor, but is this all really worth it? We can all tell you don't want to do this, so don't." With that being said, she frowned, gathered her things and left, leaving the girls on their own with those words ringing in their ears.

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Hope you like it.

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"Boys will be boys."

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R+R Please

Thank you

Tenshi


	55. A Day at the Track

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**Last Time**

With a sigh, Tori powered down and turned to the girls. "Look, I know you don't want to betray Lothor, but is this all really worth it? We can all tell you don't want to do this, so don't." With that being said, she frowned, gathered her things and left, leaving the girls on their own with those words ringing in their ears.

**This Time**

(With the boys and Kendra, Kendra's POV)

I got a little worried as I sensed a dark, but not quite evil presence in town. Actually, I recognized the presence as the same thing I sensed in Marah and Kapri's minds, when I'd visited them in their dreams, to try and warn them of what was coming. I'm not an idiot, I knew they didn't believe me, but I also knew it was only a matter of time before their own deep seeded doubts began to gnaw at the surface and demand they find out for sure.

Hunter had regained his human form, like I'd predicted, and was currently riding around with Blake on the track, and Carly had gone to do some mountain climbing. I think...I was surprised when they didn't pull over or take off when the presence got into town. I mean, I knew they'd be able to sense something was wrong, but they rode along anyways.

Then the presence faded and I allowed myself to relax, guessing that the others had dealt with it.

Allowing myself to get into the riding I relaxed and enjoyed as the boys flew by. Waving briefly at them, I smiled a little, sensing how relaxed and happy they were to be here. _Like kids in a candy shop._ I thought as my smile turned to a grin.

"Boys will be boys." came an unfamiliar female voice.

Jumping a little in surprise, I quietly berated myself for getting so caught up in what was going on, I didn't sense this woman coming up to me.

"Oh, sorry about that. I didn't mean to startle you." she stated with a slightly guilty smile.

She had long red hair and blue eyes, was about average height and was wearing a red and black horizontally stripped long sleeved shirt under a grey vest and ove a pair of blue jeans. Holding a clip board, she pushed her hair behind her ears before gesturing out to the boys.

"I just saw you watching Hunter and Blake. They love to ride, they could be at it for quite some time."

I recalled seeing her briefly in Hunter's dream. She was the one in the store, Storm Chargers, the one he touched, who collapsed and turned to dust.

Seeing my most likely blank look, she blushed and laughed a little. "I'm sorry, I didn't introduce myself. I'm Kelly. Kelly Holloway, the owner of Storm Chargers and an employer slash friend of Hunter and Blake's." She held out her hand.

"Kelly." I repeated with a smile of my own, finally able to place a name with the face as I shook her hand. "I'm Kendra, a friend of theirs." Her look turned awkward and I couldn't help but laugh, knowing neither boy had a chance to talk to her or mention me, yet. "We just met about a week ago." I clarified, smiling again as her expression turned understanding.

Turning back to the race, I watched as Blake narrowly pulled into the lead and won the race, stopping and pulling off his helmet as Hunter rode up to him. They were too far away for me to make out what they were saying, but I watched as Hunter smiled fondly and nodded a little before saying something back and patting his brother on the shoulder.

"Those two are really close. I don't know why, but I've never seen a relationship as close as theirs." Kelly seemed to be off in her own little world. "There's still so much I don't know, but neither one of them seems to like to talk about their past or family that much."

…_Fami…ly? _She didn't know? I could tell she was close to them as their employer and friend, so for her not to know, it was a shock to me. I wanted to explain, to clarify what I knew was bothering her, but it wasn't my place.

"It's strange, but it's like they're more than brothers." Blushing for a moment, she shook her head. "I don't mean that in a weird way, either."

"I didn't say a thing." I answered with a giggle, knowing exactly where her mind went. "And I know what you mean. They're very close, as if… Well, it's impossible to explain, really. Somehow, like they're soul brothers. They understand each other on a level we'll never be able to comprehend." _And that's probably a result of their tragic pasts._

"Exactly." Frowning a moment, Kelly shook her head and smiled off in another direction, waving briefly.

Following her gaze, I felt my face heat up as my eyes locked with Hunter's and Blake's. More precisely, Hunter's. Blake was looking at us both in confusion, Hunter was staring at me intently. I don't know how that gaze was _supposed_ to make me feel, but it made me decidedly uncomfortable. It was unwavering, piercing, and masked. I couldn't tell what he was thinking.

Turning away, I brushed my hair behind my ears, trying to shake the uncomfortable feeling as I smiled a little at Kelly. _Could they hear us?_ Honestly, I figured they were too far away, even with their enhanced hearing, but I wasn't sure. "Nosy boys?" I asked with a grin.

"Very." she answered with a slight laugh and raised eyebrow. "I'm willing to bet they know we're talking about them."

_If they're using their enhanced hearing, I'd agree._ I though with a giggle as I turned to find them heading over. "Speaking of the devil…s…"

"Hey, what's up?" Hunter waved at us as they came over and smiled a little.

Blake nodded and glanced back at their bikes, which were being worked on by a single mechanic. Turning back, he checked his watch and his eyes widened. "Oh, man! I'm so late!" He turned to Hunter and shrugged apologetically. "I promised to hunt Tori down at the beach…"

"Go, bro. It's cool, I'll look after our bikes." Grinning a little, there was a clear teasing look in his eyes. "Don't keep Tori waiting. Go on, shoo!" Making a shooing motion with his hands, he laughed at Blake's embarrassed glare before waving as his little brother turned and jogged off.

Pursing my lips, I glanced at Kelly who seemed amused but kept silent, to Blake who was irritated but also amused, to Hunter who was staring at his bro's retreating back with laughter in his eyes. "Is it me or do you seem to just love torturing your brother?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

He seemed to jump a little, having obviously forgotten about me, and turned with a confused look. "Huh?" Suddenly it seemed to hit him. "Oh, about Tori? Oh yeah, I'm always teasing him about everything."

"That is the job of an older brother." Kelly stated with a smile. "To harass the younger brother, constantly."

Laughing a little at Hunter's look of mock outrage, Kendra nodded. "Very true, and it's not just Hunter. I think everyone's always making comments about Blake and Tori."

"Well, that's because it's so obvious. I mean, I think the only ones that don't know are Blake and Tori." Hunter finished with a sigh and a shake of his head. Frowning a moment, he turned to Kelly. "Uh, could you excuse me and Kendra?"

"Sure." Nodding quickly, she waved and turned, heading off to work with her clipboard.

"What's up?" I asked, turning to Hunter.

"What was that I sensed earlier? It was…I dunno, dark." he shivered a little and his frown remained etched into his face.

Really taking a good look at his dark eyes and frowning face, I couldn't help but feel the expression made him seem a lot older than he was. "Dark presence…" My own frown formed for a moment as I thought. "I sensed it, too. I'm not certain, but I think it was two girls, Kapri and Marah?"

"They weren't here long. I don't like this."

"But you kept riding." I stated with a raised eyebrow. "You didn't even falter or pause for a moment."

"Why would they be here only for a few minutes? What could they want?"

"Maybe they wanted to talk about the vision I'd sent them."

His eyes widened and he stared at me in shock a moment before they narrowed and filled with anger. "You contacted them?! What were you thinking?! What did you tell them?!"

I couldn't help but take a step back at the anger in his words. "Wha-I warned them not to let that man, Lothor, get the gem or he'd turn on them." I didn't understand why he was so angry. "I mean, Shane and Dustin mentioned them in passing, before, that they were helping Lothor, but didn't really seem _evil_. So… I just thought if I could warn them, maybe I could slow him down, and save them…or something."

His look remained grim and angry. "So you contacted them. Do you realize what you could have told them that could have given them an advantage? Or you could easily have just been wasting your time, they're airheads."

Now it was my turn to frown. "Those girls are no Cam, I'll admit, but they're not complete airheads either." I stated slowly, getting offended.

He snorted and rolled his eyes.

"Hunter. Stop." I growled angrily. "They are smarter than you give them credit for, and in case you never noticed, at least two members of your team, your _friends_ care for them."

Now he paused a moment and actually seemed to be thinking about it.

"And they're family." I bit back the guilt I felt when I saw him wince. My anger quickly fled and I was aware of how soft my tone was when I continued. "They don't want to feel like they betrayed him. They trust him, almost instinctively because he's 'Uncle' to them."

"Cam's their cousin." he stated as if trying to make a point.

"A cousin they never got a chance to get to know."

Looking away for a moment, he took a deep breath. "Fine, you have a point, but you still took a big risk, giving them a vision."

"Yeah, I know, but I'm also pretty sure I got to them. Look, they were in town and the others didn't see fit to call you or Blake, right?" I tried to get him to look at me, but he refused. After a moment, I growled in frustration, reached out and grabbed his face, and forced him to look at me. "That means they didn't cause much if any trouble. And Blake's gone to see Tori, he can let you know if, and that's a big if, there's any trouble." Closing my eyes, it was my turned to sigh. "You might not trust them or have faith in them, but have faith in your friends."

He still seemed hesitant, but he finally looked into my eyes.

"Trust _me_." I finished, feeling hurt.

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Hope you like it.

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"Got tired of rock climbing."

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R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi


	56. Carly and Cam's Talk

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**Last Time**

He still seemed hesitant, but he finally looked into my eyes.

"Trust _me_." I finished, feeling hurt.

**This Time**

(Storm Chargers, Carly's POV)

I may be half dragon, but I'm also half human. After climbing around for a couple of hours, I got tired and a little bored, so I decided to head into town again. When I got there was the problem. I had no idea where to find anyone, or what to do. I mean, sure, I could use my dragon senses to track someone down, but other than in what I'd come to see as 'our' world, I didn't use my powers so freely. Only that one time with Kendra.

So I just wandered around a little after hiding my things in a ditch, knowing Tori would find them there later, or could bring me back to get them. It was her who pointed the hiding place out to me.

First I stopped by the beach, and apparently I'd just made it in time to watch as Tori fended off a bunch of black and red monsters, and then she was faced with two familiar girls. I recognized them from Kendra's description. I watched as she and the others, minus Blake and Hunter, spoke to the girls before leaving them alone on the beach, and I watched as the girls seemed to exchange words before turning and disappearing in a flash. Then I continued with my walk, making my way through the town slowly.

"Hey."

Turning on the sidewalk, I snapped out of my thoughts and watched Cam walk up to me. "Hi." I was a little surprised to see him and took a moment to take in his appearance. Casual jeans, a green t-shirt, and his usual glasses. He looked like a surprisingly normal man. For a quick moment, I found it amazing how someone could go from superhero to normal every day person in seemingly no time. "What are you up to?"

If I was looking for a smile or something, he sorely disappointed me. Instead, he had this same wary, calculating look in his eyes as he shrugged the tiniest bit and made a face, like he had no idea. "Just wandering around, I guess. I sometimes go to the library, or Storm Chargers, but Kelly's at the track, so the store is locked up."

"And the library?"

He shrugged again. "It's closed. How about you?"

"Got tired of rock climbing." I rubbed my arm a little and raised an eyebrow. "Literally."

"Actually…That works out good. There was something I wanted to ask you about."

I nodded a little and gestured for him to lead the way, since I had a feeling this wasn't a sidewalk-safe talk. "And do I dare ask what that is? You're not gonna wanna run a bunch of tests on me are you?" Pausing a moment, I raised an eyebrow at him. "You're not gonna tie me to a table and perform an autopsy."

For a moment, Cam frowned and I wasn't sure if he actually picked up that I was joking, but then the corners of his mouth shook in a subtle hint that he was trying not to grin and he raised an eyebrow back before continuing on his way down the sidewalk, heading to a park. "You're not an alien." he stated simply.

_Some people might disagree._ I thought silently, feeling my newly formed grin falter a little. _People tend to be afraid of what they don't understand._

"I just wanted to ask…" he still seemed to hesitate but his look was a little softer as we entered the park. Looking around, he opened his mouth a moment before closing it, clearing his throat and trying again. "To ask what it's like."

I knew what he meant, but pretended to play dumb. "Rock climbing? Oh, it's intense. You're literally hanging by a single rope, and it takes a lot of strength. I don't know, I find I love the feeling I get from climbing the side of a cliff, like I'm defying the laws of gravity without…" I paused myself and made sure no one else was around. "Without using my abilities."

Cam was silent and he stopped walking. I wasn't sure what to make of his expression, but he nodded a little and turned to me. "You know that's not what I meant."

I couldn't help but grin. "Oh, it wasn't?" Laughing a little, I shook my head and moved to sit on a bench. "I don't know what you want to hear, or how to answer that question. It's got it's good points and bad. The abilities have come in handy pretty often, but the weakness periods can be a pain."

"Can you tell me more about them?" he asked, sitting down next to me.

"Not much to tell, really." I stated with a shrug. "We're stuck in dragon form, can't communicate except for Hunter and Blake because they're family. We can't really feed ourselves, I mean, we eat cooked meat and regular meals but we can't cook or use microwaves. We basically need to be kept warm, except for Blake and Kendra, because Kendra really doesn't have as severe a weakness to the cold, and Blake just doesn't have the weakness."

"What's it like being a dragon? I mean, your senses are already heightened, but there are other aspects, too, right?"

_Why so many questions?_ I wasn't used to being…well, interrogated like this and it was a little disconcerting. "Well, our senses are heightened a little more when we're dragons, it's unusual to walk around on four legs, hard to get used to. We can still understand English perfectly, but our responses to things can be more animalistic."

"Hmm… That's interesting." Cam actually did seem really interested.

"So…." Looking at him a moment, I waited for him to continue questioning me, but a minute later he looked at me in confusion. "Oh, I thought you'd have more questions." Blinking innocently I watched as he raised an eyebrow and smirked a little.

"No, that's good, thanks." Getting up, he checked his watch and sighed. "Well, it's getting a little later, we should head back and meet the others before everyone heads off for the night."

_First night in our new… New what, home?_ Needless to say, the idea was a little unnerving for me, and I could only bet it was just as bad, if not worse for Kendra. Still, I remained silent as I got up and walked after him. _Ken didn't put up too much of a fight._ Then again, it was Hunter who was making a big deal about it. Even though they'd only just met recently, they had a tense relationship.

Sometimes they seemed like friends, sometimes it seemed like Hunter's walls were pushing her away and she was letting him. Then there were times I think there was a touch of something more to them, maybe a level of understanding, I'm not sure… But there was something.

"You're pretty quiet."

Blinking in surprise, I turned to Cam and felt my face heat up as he stared at me intensely. "Oh, I was just thinking." His expression clearly stated he was expecting more than that and I shrugged. "It's our first night away from what we've come to know as our home."

Suddenly his look turned understanding. "I see." We walked on a little ways before he spoke again. "Look, I don't know how much it'll help, but either of you need anything…" It was like he wasn't used to this. "I'm here… And, uh, so are the others."

I could tell he was embarrassed and smiled a little, touched by his gesture. "We know. Thanks."

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Hope you like it.

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"So what's on the schedule for today?"

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Thank you

Tenshi


	57. Training Day

Note this chapter doesn't actually contain any training, I just didn't know what else to call it.

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**Last Time **

Suddenly his look turned understanding. "I see." We walked on a little ways before he spoke again. "Look, I don't know how much it'll help, but either of you need anything…" It was like he wasn't used to this. "I'm here… And, uh, so are the others."

I could tell he was embarrassed and smiled a little, touched by his gesture. "We know. Thanks."

**This time**

(Next Day, Normal POV)

The night was probably most uncomfortable on Kendra and Carly, having to get used to their new home and sleep in new beds. Still, the next morning, it was easy to see that the night was difficult on everyone. There was no notice of anymore dreams and visions, but it still looked like everyone had a hard time getting a good night's sleep.

"So, morning." Tori stated with a yawn and wave, brushing her hair out of her face as she descended the stairs in her ninja outfit.

"Yeah." Hunter muttered with his eyes half open as he sat hunched at the table, looking ready to pass out.

Looking at him a moment, Kendra couldn't help but smile a little. Sure, everyone was exhausted, but he looked beyond adorable with his blue eyes dull with sleep and half open, and his hair a little messy still. There was no sign of the tell-tale pain and broodiness in his eyes that there usually was, but pure innocence, which made him seem so young. All she wanted to do was reach out and ruffle his hair.

"Morning, Tor." Blake stated a little more awake, though his arm was braced on the table and his head braced in his hand. "What's up?"

She shrugged and moved to sit beside him, leaning her head on his shoulder and almost knocking him over.

"So what's on the schedule for today?" Shane asked lowly, shaking his head and rubbing his eyes.

Cam was sitting at his computer as usual, and turned tired eyes to the others. "Training. It was just to keep up with our schedules, but this morning I think it would help to wake everyone up." Turning back to the computer, he hit a few keys and a bunch of islands began running over the screen with information streaming down the left hand side. "I'm going to find the island Kendra and Carly were talking about before, but the rest of you should split up into groups to practice. Since there's an uneven number, I'd suggest two groups of two and one group of three, or one group of three and one group of four."

"Two groups of two and one group of three sounds best." Shane stated quietly, nudging Dustin a little to wake him up.

Everyone got up and began talking about who was going with who. It didn't take long, Blake was obviously torn between Hunter and Tori, and Kendra was sure he wanted them both to come with him, but Dustin and Shane agreed to take Carly, and that left Blake and Tori in one group and Hunter and Kendra in the other.

"Guys, you have two hours to spar and then we have to meet back here and plan what we're doing next. Oh, and Kendra, I need to ask you a question, so I need you to stay behind for a moment." Cam spoke up.

Raising her eyebrow, Carly stopped on her way out and turned to him. "What? Yesterday's interrogation wasn't good enough?" she asked in honest confusion.

Turning back, he frowned at her a moment before folding his arms over his chest and sighing. "Actually, I wanted to ask her about the visions, and how she even got them to begin with."

"Oh." Shrugging a little, Carly tossed an apologetic look towards Kendra and turned before going, knowing only Kendra could answer his questions.

Hunter also hesitated a moment. "I'll wait nearby, I know you don't really…know the area too well."

Kendra couldn't help but laugh a little, which earned her a confused and slightly hurt look from Hunter. Holding up her hand, she shook her head. "I'm sorry, it's just… Hunter, remember that I'm half dragon, too."

His look turned understanding, and he nodded a little, but he still didn't move.

Turning to Cam, Kendra nodded. "So what exactly did you want to know? How I got the visions?"

He nodded, facing her.

"Well…" Sitting at the edge of the table, she seemed to think about it. "I'm a Sky Dragon. The only ability that I have, that I can really control is my healing. Sky Dragons are also prone to visions, but not very often and those we _can't_ control. I got the vision twice, and each time I held on to what I could remember of them. It's not fun." She couldn't help but frown deeply.

"No kidding. I think I remember you once saying you didn't tell us everything and it wasn't fun for us, either." Hunter stated with a grimace.

"What else was there?" Cam asked, honestly intrigued.

Giving him a mild warning look, Kendra shook her head. "Lothor turning into a big black dragon, evil energies being released and killing tons of people, or turning them into monsters, you know, the usual chaos and mayhem."

"Ok, I think it's about time for training." Hunter interjected as he walked over and grabbed Kendra's arm, helping her up and leading her out of Ops before Cam could say another word. Once they'd exited the building, Hunter looked at Kendra and offered her an awkward grin. "Sorry about that, it's like he never knows enough, or knows when to stop asking."

"Thirst for knowledge isn't always a bad thing." she stated with a raised eyebrow before smiling back. "But, thanks. Those visions aren't exactly the sort of thing I like to think about often."

He nodded a little before turning and continuing on, completely oblivious to the fact that he was still holding her hand.

A fact that hadn't escaped Kendra. "Um…Hunter?"

Looking over his shoulder, he looked at her inquiringly.

Glancing down to her hand, she looked back at him and raised an eyebrow, trying to ignore the heat emanating from her face. "Um, can I have my hand back?"

Turning a furious red, he slowly glanced down to their hands and immediately released hers. "Uh, sorry about that."

She ducked her head a little and nodded. "It's ok." _That was actually kinda…nice_

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Hope you like it.

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"Hunter and Blake aren't complaining as much about the training as they usually do."

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R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi


	58. Splitting up Again?

Ok, so I was winging this when I came up with an idea. I'm still not certain, but I was toying with the idea of a sequel, or continuation before, like the second half of the story. Well, I was thinking of making it that they didn't get there in time to stop Lothor. You'll see a kind of idea I have in this chapter.

Basically, I have this idea to do a similar story to The Day After Tomorrow, only with zombies and stuff in a Resident Evil type setting. They split up and for the longest time are doing their respective things with only minimal contact with each other. Crimson Team (You'll see what I mean later in this chapter) are chasing down Lothor as the world grows darker every day and the evil grows over the planet's surface. Red Team are in Blue Bay Harbor, looking after the people and trying to save whoever they can, but they are always worrying about Crimson Team.

I'm not sure yet though, but this story is growing long, so I am seriously considering it. Plus this way I can work more on character relationship development, though I may have Carly switch teams at some point… I'm still ironing out the kinks, LOL.

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**Last Time**

Turning a furious red, he slowly glanced down to their hands and immediately released hers. "Uh, sorry about that."

She ducked her head a little and nodded. "It's ok." _That was actually kinda…nice_

**This Time**

(Four Hours Later, Kendra's POV)

Training was actually pretty fun. Tiring, but fun. I could see why the others seemed to be complaining, but I'm not sure what to make of it. The others seemed confused with Hunter and Blake's quietness, or rather, lack of complaining.

That was when Tori beckoned me to come over and I moved to talk to her.

Oh, we were on this big metal boat. I don't really know what to make of it, how Cam got a big boat or how it was driving across the ocean to the island when they were the only ones on board. He mentioned briefly something about making modifications to the dolphin zord, which had Tori giving him warning looks, but otherwise, it all completely escaped Kendra.

The decks were fairly large, there was one lower deck with a main room, and the control room. Not exactly a luxury cruiser, but a decent way to travel…to a big battle on which the fate of the world relies. Funny how the thought could fall to the back of your mind out here on the massive ocean.

"What's up?"

"Hey, don't mind the guys." Tori was smiling fondly. "Hunter and Blake aren't complaining as much about the training as they usually do."

I couldn't help but giggle, ignoring the confused looks from Hunter and Blake. "Well that's probably because they're half dragon now. They didn't find the exercises as tiring as they did before."

She nodded a little. "That makes sense. That's a good thing, too, with the upcoming battle."

Being reminded of what was coming, I took a deep breath, my mind flashing to Marah and Kapri. Would we have to fight them as well, or would they help us? How far has Lothor made it on the island? Would we make it there on time to stop him? What if we didn't?

'Didn't'… That was a very real possibility. But what would happen then? The world would be destroyed? ….There was another way, but it wouldn't be easy.

"Hunter. Blake and Carly." Turning to them, I frowned as I thought about the possibilities. "There's a chance that we might…not make it in time to stop Lothor from getting to the gem. If that's the case…"

"A powerful evil will be unleashed and destroy the world." Cam stated with a nod and frown. "What can we do but try to get there in time to stop him?"

"It's not immediate, there is one thing we can do that would stop the initial power wave. It won't stop Lothor, but would limit his powers. If we could stop the burst of dark energy, we'd save all the people it was destined to kill, and would make our main priority Lothor."

Carly tried to interject. "It won't stop it completely, Kendra. We've talked about this. It'll weaken the energy and delay it a little, but-"

"But it would give us time to get the people into the buildings. The energy isn't just that. It needs a carrying source, either direct exposure or through some other form of ingestion. Rain, through the skin, or drinking…" I had turned to the others and was walking back towards them as I thought out loud. "If we can get them into buildings and protected, we can buy time to find and get rid of Lothor. If we can get rid of him, the power will fade."

"But that would require a _lot_ of energy. Plus then we have to board up the windows in tons of buildings and make sure no one has access to flowing water or rain." Cam was getting into this, although he seemed a little lost as to why we were even talking about it. "We'd need to build a massive supply of bottled water as well as non-perishable food, and warn the people ahead of time. Then we'd need to get help to board up all the windows and gather food into large buildings. There's only six of us, two of you and we're heading to an island with who knows what kind of defenses?"

"That's just it, there's two of us and we know what to expect. Hunter and Blake know what to expect."

"You're not suggesting they go alone. Not after what they went through before??" Tori seemed very much against this.

"Actually, I was thinking of what we'd need to do to delay and weaken the power. Carly, myself, Hunter and Blake would need to combine our Dragon Clan energies to counter the initial burst that would come from the gem and stop it from spreading."

"At least for a little while." Carly added quietly.

"That's a good idea, but we don't know how, and I kinda agree with Tor. I won't wanna go through the island thing alone, again." Blake stated with a frown.

"You wouldn't need to know. Your Dragons would sense what's happening and your instincts would take over, leading you to act the way you needed to before even realizing what you were doing." I raised my hand and looked out over the water. "And I know you don't wanna go through it again." Pausing a moment, I looked over the group. "That's why I want Tori to come with us."

I saw that the others wanted to come along as well, but they remained fairly quiet about it. Maybe they understood my reasoning. If Tori came with us, we wouldn't be alone, Blake would feel better knowing she was near and safe, and that would make Hunter feel better as well as helping them to be able to focus more on their energies.

"Cam, once we make it to the island, you need to take Shane and Dustin back to Blue Bay. Get the word out on television, and help the people in Blue Bay set up for all this. Hunter, Blake or Tori can warn you if we don't make it in time, and you can warn the people, and if we do happen to stop Lothor in time, we can call you to come help us in battle."

"Not that I like this idea, but I guess it makes sense." Shane was frowning deeply. "You're both fighters?"

"Me, not so much." Carly put in with a bit of a sheepish look. "But I can cast a few spells, and I can go Dragon if I need to. Plus, if worse comes to worse, they'll need my help to delay the burst. We'll need every bit of power we can use."

"But, dudes, what about Marah and Kapri?" Dustin finally spoke up, looking worried. "I mean, if Kendra got through to them-"

"Man, I'm sorry, but that's a big 'if'." Shane said lowly, a worried look on his own face. "If they decide to help us, I'm sure… Wait, if we're splitting into two teams, what do we call ourselves?"

"Cool team names time?" Hunter asked me with a crooked grin.

I shrugged and blushed. "Hey, I didn't come up with the Dragon Clan names, that was tradition. Don't ask me."

"Shane, you and Hunter used to fight over who should be the leader." Tori looked thoughtful. "You're both leaders of your own teams, I think you agreed. Hunter, you were always the leader of you and Blake, right? Shane was our leader. So why don't we just call ourselves Hunter's team and Shane's team?"

"We can't use that in public." Shane pointed out.

"How about Red Team and Crimson Team, then?"

Everyone nodded and Shane sighed. "Alright, as I was saying then, if they chose to help us, Crimson Team can send them to help us in town. We'll need the extra help, I think."

"That's a good idea." Pausing for a moment, I took a good look at everyone. "So we're doing this? We're gonna split up?"

"I don't like it." Cam was frowning deeply as he turned to look at the distant land mass that had appeared on the distant horizon. "But we don't have a choice. When we land, we'll let you off and head back. Keep in regular touch with us and let us know if you run into any trouble."

I nodded. "Right. And Hunter and Blake will be watching over Tori, since she wasn't there when they were on the island. She knows about the Ghouls, Ghosts, Ghasts, Zombified Coeurls and regular Coeurls, but she didn't see the Caro Trees-'"

"Neither did we." Hunter muttered quietly.

"The Dack Spiders-"

Blake shivered and made a face while rubbing his arms.

"The Zombie Harpy, or anything else." I finished, aware of the 'oh boy, not again' looks the boys were giving.

"There's no guarantee we'll run into them all, but you never know." Carly added with a look that stated she hoped we didn't.

"Let's hope this works. We're almost there." Cam stated grimly with a look at the fast approaching land mass.

Whether or not we were splitting up, it looked like quite possibly the final battle would soon be upon us.

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Hope you like it

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"That sounds like…"

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R+R please

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Tenshi


	59. Kidnapped

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**Last Time**

"Let's hope this works. We're almost there." Cam stated grimly with a look at the fast approaching land mass.

Whether or not we were splitting up, it looked like quite possibly the final battle would soon be upon us.

**This Time**

(Hunter's POV)

When I found out that we were splitting up, I was a little worried. Not that I was one who got worried often, but I really didn't want a repeat of the Amethyst Eye mission Blake and I had. At least this time Kendra, Carly and Tori would be coming with us.

And Tori… Well, I think I figured out exactly why Kendra suggested she come along with us, and though I'll admit I didn't have a problem with it, worrying about Blake's love life probably wasn't the best way to spend her time, right now. We had a huge fight coming. I had no idea what was coming, I was still a little confused why Kendra was so sure that Marah and Kapri would help us. I mean, Lothor was family to them. Evil or not, they stuck by family.

"Alright guys, be careful. I still don't like this plan, but… Well, we don't really have a choice." Cam was frowning with his arms folded over his chest, from the bridge that led to the modified dolphin zord.

Shane nodded with his own frown. "Let me just say I agree, but we don't have the time to sit here arguing about it.

Carly, Kendra, Tori, Blake and myself were on the beach, looking back. Already I could sense the cold, evil aura of this place and I couldn't bite back the shiver of dread that ran down my spine. "Yeah, let's just get this over with, please."

Reluctantly, Red team made their way back into the zord, which slowly began to slide back into the water. Our team turned and slowly started along the beach. Unfortunately, we could see that Lothor had been here.

Bodies. Kelzacks, and other aliens were lying motionless on the ground, along with tons of robed lizard folk.

"Oh, this isn't promising." Tori stated with a grimace as she carefully stepped over a pile of bodies, and a little ways through the field. Stopping for a moment, she crouched down and picked up a piece of cloth. "I recognize this. One of these lizard guys was what knocked me down and caused us to get separated before."

"Yes, that's right." Kendra walked over and sighed sadly. "They were the first defense wave here. It looks like they caused a lot of damage, but…"

"But didn't stop Lothor." I finished as I made my way through the bodies, trying to ignore the stench of blood. "And who knows just how far he made it in?"

"Farther than this, obviously." Carly grumbled as she walked by with a grim look. "There's a lot more defenses, but the evil aura of this place is growing stronger. He's getting too close."

Slowly we made our way to the large field and began crossing it. The sky was dark and thunder rumbled overhead. There were more bodies along the field, and the stench of blood was so strong, my brother and myself had to put our ninja masks on. Even Tori joined us, and Carly and Kendra covered their faces with their hands to try and block out the smell.

It was a lot like the field back from our mission, only no trees in the field and littered with bodies and many barren areas on the ground. Instead of being hot, it was almost cold here, and a stale wind blew across the field.

"This place was never that nice…" Carly looked torn between being angry and sad. "But now it's even worse. We need to put a stop to all this."

Suddenly there was a loud screech. Immediately, I dropped into a crouch, barely aware of growling, but I was aware when Blake did the same. Carly and Kendra frowned but didn't drop down, and Tori looked completely confused.

"Uh, guys?" She slowly raised her hands in defense, even though it was clear she had no idea what was going on.

It hit me she probably couldn't hear it. It was loud and clear to us, but we had enhanced hearing. "That sounds like…a zombie harpy."

"Zombie…harpy…" The look on Tori's face spoke volumes about what she'd rather be doing than dealing with this right now. Looking down, she screamed and jumped, calling on a ball of water to brush some yellow spiders off her legs.

Seeing her distress, Blake jumped into action, using his ice abilities to freeze the spiders he could so that Tori could get away from them. There was a hole in the ground that the spiders were running out of.

Once I saw the hole, I frowned and walked over, calling on my fire powers to send a pillar of flame down the hole, frying all the spiders.

"_Man_, I hate those!" Blake hissed with a growl and frown, holding Tori close and keeping her well away from the hole. Looking around carefully, he made sure there were no more holes in the ground.

Another screech brought us back to the approaching zombie harpy. Then, there were two more screeches, signaling that it wasn't the only one.

"Guys, we _really _don't have the time to be fighting every monster that comes our way!" Kendra called as she began to back up. "It's obvious Lothor went this way, we should follow the trail he left us and focus on getting him."

I nodded and followed her lead. "Those things probably won't leave us alone."

Shrugging, she turned. "Then we better move fast!" Taking off through the field, she dodged bodies, and stopped cold to dart around another opening with hundreds of those Dack Spiders swarming over nearby bodies.

Following after her, I fried any of the spiders I could find, not liking the odds after I friend the fifth group. "There's a lot more of these things here than I expected!" I called out to the others, watching as Blake switched to his thunder powers to electrocute the spiders that got in his way. I couldn't help the small smile when I found him keeping Tori close, but masked my expression when he glanced at me.

_**Don't bother bro, forgetting we're telepathic?**_he shot with what I'd call a mental smirk.

Frowning a little, I felt the heat rise in my face and ignored it. _No... I knew about that..._ I thought as I shook my head and jumped over a small pile of bodies. "Kendra, would you slow down?!" She was getting pretty far ahead.

_**Sure you did, bro.**_

Blake was obviously mocking me, and shooting him a halfhearted glare, I turned and sped up, relying a little on my ninja streaking to help me get closer to Kendra. The screeches were getting louder, meaning the harpies were getting closer. "Just what defense are they?"

"Aerial." she called back as she glanced over her shoulder. "They're only supposed to go after flying enemies." Then her look turned thoughtful. "Then again, Dragon clan usually means wings and ability to fly. We could all count as flying enemies. Well, except for Tori, she's not Dragon clan, so she'd probably be safe."

"But we're not enemies!" I shot back incredulously. Looking over my shoulder, I felt my eyes widen and skidded to a halt. "BLAKE! LOOK OUT!"

Too late.

One of the harpies had gotten too close. As it dove down, Carly rolled to the side and Blake pushed Tori out of the way as the zombie wrapped it's claws around his stomach and took off, taking him with it.

"BLAKE!" I shouted, barely registering Tori's, Kendra's and Carly's voices. "BRO! HANG ON!" Calling up my powers, I paused when Kendra yelled out.

"Thunder! Fire could hurt him!"

I didn't even pause to wonder how she knew what I was doing, I changed immediately from my fire to my thunder powers and called up the thunder. Focusing on the sky, I frowned in surprise and anger as the two other harpies flew in front of the retreating one that held my brother. "Power of Thunder!" Lashing out, I hit them both, but they didn't fall. "What the...?!"

"There's two of them! Tori! You have to help him!"

But the fallen water ninja stared at the sky in horror, seemingly not hearing Kendra as she stared after the harpy as it flew into the nearby tree tops.

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OMG! BLAKE! KIDNAPPED! :O

Hope you like it.

I'm still debating on making a sequel like I mentioned before. It's not a sure thing, so we'll play it by ear.

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"Hunter! Stop! We'll do this together!"

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R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi


	60. The Search Begins

MEGA UPDATE! Basically because i am working on the last of the chapters now and hope to be finished tonight so I can start on the sequel.

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**Last Time**

"There's two of them! Tori! You have to help him!"

But the fallen water ninja stared at the sky in horror, seemingly not hearing Kendra as she stared after the harpy as it flew into the nearby tree tops.

**This Time**

"Tori!" I called, trying to get her attention. Running over, I grabbed her arm and hauled her to her feet. "Come on! I need your help!" I shook her shoulders, barely aware that there were tears in her eyes and her face was horribly pale. _No, no, NO! _"Tori!" Shaking my head, I turned and ran through the field, dodging more bodies, more spiders, and now the dive bomb attacks of the two harpies, who had seemingly focused in on me.

I didn't care.

I could hear the others calling after me, their footsteps echoing across the ground. Carly called something about needing to stop Lothor or it wouldn't matter that Blake was kidnapped. Kendra called something about needing us _all_ to stop the power.

I didn't care.

I heard a gasp of pain, and a small part of me felt guilty, knowing someone had gotten hurt because of me, but I kept going. I was mostly through the field by now, approaching the forest the harpy flew into with my brother.

"Hunter! Stop! We'll do this together!" Kendra called urgently.

Even if I wanted to, that thing kidnapped my baby brother, I _couldn't_ stop!

"We can't keep going with these things on our tails!" Carly called.

Skidding once again to a stop, I turned and glared coldly at the two harpies. For a split second, they seemed to pause, as if sensing the rage I was in. I didn't care. I didn't notice. All I noticed was the rush of power that seemed to throb in my veins, and the overwhelming urge that _someone_ had to pay! They helped kidnap my baby bro, they stopped me from helping him. _They_ had to pay!

Everything was a rush and blur. I don't remember gathering my energies, I don't remember screaming at Tori to soak them. I barely remember seeing the most massive ball of water I'd ever seen fly right into them with enough force to knock them across the field, and the darkest most dangerous glare I'd ever seen on Tori's face as she nodded grimly to me. I do remember frying them with the biggest lightning bolt I'd ever called on.

And that barely did anything to phase the mood I was in. It did, however, snap me out of the blind rage...a little. I became aware of the smell of fresh flood and seeing the scrape on Kendra's back. I could see the tears trailing down Tori's face and the grim anger she was feeling, behind which, I could see hints of pain. My wings fluttered widely against my back, making me aware that they had manifested and were mantled widely, and I still felt the power rushing through me.

Kendra and Carly were both staring at us in shock.

"Remind me to never piss you off." Carly muttered as she brushed some dust off her, careful of a scratched up arm, and she wandered over. "Listen, I know you're beyond pissed, Dragon Clan, too, remember? You have to trust that Blake will be alright until we get to him. If you run off, we risk everything. Blake, stopping Lothor, _everything._" she insisted quietly.

I didn't want to listen. Turning away, I stopped when Tori spoke.

"If he didn't stop to push me out of the way, he could have dodged. He protected me and he got caught." Her tone was so quiet and spoke of so much guilt and pain. "I wanna help him, too, Hunter. I _need_ to."

"We all wanna help." Kendra added just as softly. "Hunter, stomping off in a blind rage might help temporarily-"

My wings fluttered and I felt my anger rise. Turning to glare at her, I watched as she flinched but continued on.

"But you don't know the extent that the rage can also weaken you. Look, you probably don't even notice, but I bet you're exhausted. You're running on anger, but it won't be long before the adrenaline wears off and you transform because you used so much energy." Taking a step closer, she hesitated when I growled warningly. "We're Dragon Clan, too. Let us track him, we can't stop Lothor without him, and I know how important he is to you both."

I couldn't help but glance at Tori, feeling a little of my anger melt away when I realised just how bad this must have been hurting her.

"You need to rest. You'll wanna fight to help get him back, and you won't be able to if our exhaustion hits you at that point." she finished as she took another step forward.

Growling again, I felt my wings spread a little in warning for her to stay away. I heard her words and I knew she was right. I also knew I was still beyond pissed off and I wanted to find my baby brother. _Now._ So what if I was a little bit tired? My body was humming with the power surging through it, that would keep me going.

"Hunter."

My head spun to Tori who was walking forward slowly, her look so pained.

"Come on, we need to do this together. We'll find him, but you gotta stop and let us do this. Please, Hunter?"

She was getting closer and my wings ruffled a little, not liking that, but I also recognized her as someone who was the most logical one in our group, besides Cam. I also recognized that she was the one my brother loved, and who loved him. She wouldn't do anything to hurt him.

My anger faded as she stepped up to me, but I still felt uncertain as to what she wanted. She looked right into my eyes and I saw more unshed tears there as she slowly reached forward and wrapped her arms around my neck.

"Please Hunter, let's help him together. Let us help you too."

Finally my anger drained away. Slowly, I noticed my body shaking as I carefully wrapped my arms around her, too. I knew she was in a lot of pain over this, that I wasn't the only one hurting. Part of me didn't really understand why I was so defensive towards Kendra. Sure, I didn't know her as well, but I knew she wouldn't hurt me, or my bro.

"We have to find him." I managed to whisper, feeling the burning of tears in my eyes.

"Hunter..."

Looking up, I saw Kendra looking at me with a soft look.

"It's ok to cry, you know."

That reminded me of my parents' funeral, and how Blake told me it was ok to cry. Losing what control I had left, I let the energy melt out of my body and the tears course down my cheeks.

"We'll find him." I heard her mutter. "I promise."

Tori was shaking, too, and I knew she was crying. I wanted to say something, to be strong, but I couldn't. I couldn't make my mouth form the words as I became aware of just _how_ tired I was.

The next thing I knew, I was shrinking, transforming, and soon, I was again a little dragon in Tori's arms. As comfortable as I was there, I didn't want to just sit around. I managed to gether the energy to move, and jumped out of her arms, staggering a little when I hit the ground and a dizzy spell hit me. Taking a few shaky steps towards the woods, I felt myself grabbed up, and turned, expecting to find Tori holding me again, but I came face to face with Kendra, who's eyes showed a hint of the pain I was feeling.

Behind her, Carly was with Tori, helping her along.

Taking a deep breath, I carefully crawled around until I was comfortable and allowed Kendra to carry me into the woods, reluctantly admitting I was more comfortable in her arms, than anyone else's.

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Hope you like it.

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"Cool. I don't get how exactly this can help me, but...cool."

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R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi


	61. Where to, Next?

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**Last Time**

Behind her, Carly was with Tori, helping her along.

Taking a deep breath, I carefully crawled around until I was comfortable and allowed Kendra to carry me into the woods, reluctantly admitting I was more comfortable in her arms, than anyone else's.

**This Time**

(Blake's POV)

I could hear what Hunter was asking about what defense they were, but it barely registered when I glanced over my shoulder. More of those harpy things. Three of them, they were closing in. We weren't using our enhanced speed or ninja streaking, and that was probably a good thing. I still didn't know if me and my bro could ninja streak without a ton of pain.

Either way, when I looked over my shoulder, I saw one harpy closer than I'd have liked and suddenly got a very bad feeling. One minute, I'm running along side Tori, with Carly a little bit ahead of us, the next, Carly's jumping to the side, I'm pushing Tori out of the way, and a set of yellowed talons are tightening around my stomach to the point I could barely breathe.

I heard them call for me, especially Hunter. I wanted to tell them I was alright. I wanted to fry this bird...thing, for even touching me, but the pain and pressure against my stomach from it's claws was just too much. All I could do was focus on breathing and not moving around too much, because those deadly talons were pressed against my side, and one wrong move and I'd impale myself.

_**BRO!**_

My head reeled with the panicked cry. I could smell and sense Hunter's terror, and then it was like it suddenly snapped. Everything changed. It wasn't so much terror as a blind rage, and I felt him summoning a good deal more power than he ever used to, but it apparently wasn't enough.

The harpy was flying away. I could hear Kendra yell to use thunder power, since fire would hurt me.

_True. I'm ice, so it would make sense fire would hurt me._ I thought briefly before shaking my head and focusing. _Ok, now's not the time to be thinking about what they're saying._ "I gotta get out of here."

Someone yelled at Tori for something, but we were pretty far away. About all I could make out was a desperate cry and Tori's name. Everything seemed to vanish, and I struggled anew, trying to look back behind us. _Oh no! Is she hurt?!_ What if one of those things caught her?! What about Hunter?!

It suddenly seemed so much more important to escape, but that seemed virtually impossible as the talons tightened even more, threateningly.

Soon, their cries faded entirely and my heart skipped a beat as an all new terror passed through me. They were gone, I was obviously on my own. I couldn't even sense my brother's mind, but that was because there was some sort of block. I don't think it was him, but I couldn't figure it out.

"Let me go, bird brain!" I yelled, trying to avoid the talons as I struggled. "I swear, if you don't let me-"

All of a sudden, the harpy jolted and let me go. I couldn't help but cry out as I fell. There was a sharp pain in my side as it was dragged down against the talons, and that distracted me from any ideas of how to avoid falling. Then I hit a surface that felt like cement, but gave way beneath me. Luckily I hit feet first, but the shock of the cold water engulfing me was enough to drive the breath out of me as I sank under the water.

Trying to force myself to move through the shock, I was able to swim, albeit painfully, to the surface and took a deep breath as I looked around. I was in the middle of a massive, fairly calm pool. It looked like a pond with a single waterfall feeding it and a creek running off from it. On all sides, there was a seemingly endless forest that was so dense, it only let in a fraction of the faint light from the sky, making it extremely dark.

With my enhanced sight, I could see the occasional lizard folk walking along calmly. They would rarely glance at me, but keep going as if it didn't matter that I was there.

"Wait...where am I?" Grabbing my morpher, I hit the comm button. "Hunter! Tori?!"

There was nothing but static.

"Oh man, don't tell me we won't be able to morph here, either." I muttered as I began to swim to the shore. Immediately, I was aware of a burning pain in my side and knew I'd been injured, but resting here, in the middle of a pond that was who knows how deep, just didn't seem like a good idea. I forced myself to swim on, trying to ignore the pain and the faint stench of blood that trailed off from the water around me.

As I approached the shore, two lizard folk wandered over and grabbed my arms.

"Hey!"

I didn't have the energy to fight them, and it was probably a good thing, too. They hauled me carefully out of the water and leaned me against a log, which I gratefully sat on. Then one kneeled at my side and seemed to be poking at me.

Hissing in pain, I turned and glared at it, trying to cover the wound, but I realized it was trying to get the material off the gash. Lifting my arm a little, I allowed it to move the material and watched as it pulled a clear glass-like jar out of it's pocket and pulled the lid off, taking a small amount of a clear gel out and wiping it on my wound.

The smell was rancid and I thought I was going to be sick. Between the pain, the heat I could feel my body radiating, and the stench of that stuff... I had no idea what this stuff was, but I did remember Kendra stating these guys were friends. And as soon as it placed the gel on my side, the pain faded. Still, the smell of...well, I didn't know what the stuff smelled of, but it didn't smell nice and I knew it would cling to me for a while.

"You guys wouldn't happen to know how to get back to my friends, would you?" I asked after a moment. _Bro? Can you hear me?_

Still no answer.

_Am I really on my own?? This can't be good!_ Taking a good look at the lizard folk that was cleaning my wound, or well, doing whatever it was doing, I noticed it looked a lot like a raptor in robes, only with amazingly gentle eyes. As if hearing my earlier question, it looked up at me a moment before turning to another one and staring at it a moment. _Are they telepathic?_

The other one seemed to nod a little before turning and stalking off. I was about to ask where it was going, but a moment later, and it came back with a little griffon on it's shoulder.

And when I say little, I mean roughly the size of Hunter when he turned into the small dragon form.

"Cool. I don't get how exactly this can help me, but...cool."

The little griffon looked at me a moment before fluttering over. It had an eagle-like head, that was a flawless tan color, with a golden body with long claws and wings and a long tail. If I didn't know better, I'd swear the body was that of a lion. It landed on the ground and sniffed at my hand a moment before looking up and with a beat of it's powerful little wings, it lifted off, flying through an opening in the tree canopy, and up into the sky.

_Is it like a...a...homing beacon or something? To lead the others to me? Or maybe to go find the others? Lead me to them?_

Call me crazy, but I kind of felt a little better know it had gone off. Somehow I had this feeling it was going to get the others, I couldn't explain it really. But that relieved feeling faded a little as I felt clawed arms on my arms and felt myself being lifted.

"What are you doing? They'll never find us if we're moving around." I protested, knowing it was useless. Giving up, because well I felt too drained to fight at the moment, I allowed them to drag me off, hoping the others were alright and hoping I'd be able to get back to them before it was too late.

I was all too aware that time really wasn't on our side, as the numerous fallen lizard folk began to appear on the ground.

A feeling of dread passed over me. The number of dead bodies was growing again. Did that mean they were leading me to Lothor? Or were they taking me to him...as a captive?

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NOTICE! I might be doing the sequel, and it's will be my own version of 'The Day After Tomorrow' with a 'Resident Evil' twist, and it's going to include some of the other Rangers and Teams.

Definite appearances will be made by -

Time Force Rangers

Wild Force Rangers

Tommy Oliver

Carter Grayson

Dana Mitchell (it will be Grayson in the fic)

Space Rangers

All others are only possibilities, we will see as I go. Also, you might see Trini, and don't expect any Tommy/Kim romance as I'm following suit with the letter. They will be friendly, but as in FRIENDS only. Sorry.

Anyways, the sequel is a pretty sure bet, we'll have to see as we go along. I just don't want to say yes for sure, and have something come up to change it.

Hope you like it

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"Right. Here's the thing. There's a few active Rangers in many regions of the world as it is..."

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R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi


	62. Allies

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**Last Time**

I was all too aware that time really wasn't on our side, as the numerous fallen lizard folk began to appear on the ground.

A feeling of dread passed over me. The number of dead bodies was growing again. Did that mean they were leading me to Lothor? Or were they taking me to him...as a captive?

**This Time**

(With Red Team, Normal POV)

"Look, we don't have time to argue! Just listen to us, ok? Every minute counts!" Shane was yelling at a young man outside of a media station in Blue Bay. "Doesn't the fact that we're _Power Rangers_ show you just how serious this is!"

The young man was refusing to let them inside. "Look, this place is busy and huge. There's no one to show you around, and you'd never find the right office. Even if this...Armageddon really was coming-"

"It is! That's enough. You can let us in, or we'll force our way in and let everyone know that it was you that slowed us down and caused us to waste a lot of precious time!" Cam yelled angrily. He wasn't one to make threats, but if it worked and got this guy out of his way, he'd do anything! "We've been here for a good hour, arguing with you! Are you _that _dense that you don't believe us?!"

Frowning, he brushed back his short, spiked blonde hair and his blue eyes narrowed in warning. "If you'd just listen to me, I'd tell you I'm Wesley Collins of the Silver Guardians. Call me Wes. I'm a Ranger myself." he stated in a calm tone. "And we need to have a better plan than making everyone panic with a warning of 'the world is ending'."

This caused the Red Team to pause. They never imagined the young man who'd cut them off from the building would have been a former-no, still active Ranger himself. Dustin had been quiet the whole time, worried sick about Marah and knowing that negotiating really wasn't his strong point. Even now, this only served to make him glad he remained quiet. Shane was actually shocked into being speechless.

Cam took a moment to get over that. "Ok, so you're a Ranger. Usually I'd be asking about a million questions by now, but I'll settle for, why are you stopping us? Everyone, all over the world needs to know about the impending danger so they can get to work on boarding up their homes and stocking up on bottled water."

"Right. Here's the thing. There's a few active Rangers in many regions of the world as it is, and I have friends who've come to me from the future, stating about what's coming. I have to admit it's kinda hard to believe the end of the world is upon us, but we need to have a _better_ plan. A better way to tell people to lock themselves in and we have to get a hold of water companies to get them to bring up production of bottled water _immediately_."

"And we need to make sure everyone's got help to board up all the windows and distribute the water, I agree." Cam sighed loudly. "We don't know how much time we have, or I'd have thought about the whole speech to everyone. Fine, look, you warn people on the air, all over the world, and get in touch with your Ranger friends." Pausing for another moment, it was clear the idea of still active Rangers was a hard one for him to grasp. "See if they can help people board up their homes. Maybe we can use office buildings for a short while, so there are less buildings to work with?"

Wes nodded grimly and pulled out a cell phone. "Alright. I can do that. I can also have a slightly more organized message sent out all over the world within the hour."

Shane grimaced a little, knowing Cam wouldn't like the slightly smug attitude Wes was carrying. He was obviously older than them, but not by much. "And we'll get to work with the people of Blue Bay." he hurriedly added, before Cam could make a smart comeback and get into yet another argument. "We appreciate the help."

"Oh, I'm the Red Ranger of the Time Force Rangers." Wes added with a friendly smile towards them. Holding out his hand, he shrugged a little. "Just figured you'd be asking about that. One of those 'millions' of questions."

Taking his hand with a nod, Cam shook it firmly. "Cameron Watanabi, the Green Ranger of the Ninja Storm Rangers." he stated quietly, glad no one else was around.

"I'll have Jen get in contact with you." Wes added. When none of the others answered him, he nodded again and blushed a little. "Jen's the Pink Time Force Ranger, from the future, and...uh...my wife." his blush grew a little at his last words, and he almost seemed uncertain how the Ninja Rangers would take the news.

"Congratulations, man." Shane put in, trying to put him at ease. He, too, held out his hand and shook hands. "And it's nice to meet a fellow Ranger."

Dustin only nodded, a little shaken out of his thoughts by the fact that he was meeting a real life Ranger from the earlier years. Shaking his hand last, he turned and grinned behind his helmet a little. "See? I told you Rangers were real!"

"And gee, I thought the yellow spandex was proof enough." Cam deadpanned with a roll of his eyes.

"Well yeah, but I meant before this." Dustin put in with a pout.

"I hate to say this, but I always thought the Yellow Rangers were girls." Wes looked confused. "And there's only three of you." He was typing something into his cell phone, most likely a text message.

"Dude, _so_ not cool!" Dustin was whining in obvious embarrassment.

"There's six of us." Shane added with a chuckle. "Only we got split up on a mission. They're trying to stop or slow down the evil energy thing, and we're warning everyone."

"And a pink female Ranger?" Wes was grinning openly.

"Nope. One female, and she's Blue."

Again the Time Force Ranger looked shocked. "Oh, ok. I have to say, things really have changed."

There was a loud squeal of tires, and a military looking vehicle rushed over and a man with a square jaw and black hair stuck his head out of the window, his dark eyes glittering dangerously. "Wes, you better have meant what you just sent me! If I left that training exercise just to-"

Smiling, Wes waved at the man. "Eric Myers, meet the Ninja Storm Rangers. Rangers, meet Eric, the Quantum Ranger."

Now Eric raised an eyebrow and nodded before climbing out of the driver's seat. "Tell me Wes is exaggerating again. 'The world is in crisis'?"

Shaking his head, Cam sighed and wondered just how much time they had. "No, it's true and every second we spend talking about it, the more time we're losing _doing_ something about it."

Frowning, Eric nodded again and grabbed a radio from his shoulder. "This is Myers, I need all available Silver Guardians ready for active duty a.s.a.p. Bring in anyone with the day off, or on vacation, as well. We're going to need all the help we can get! We have an emergency on hand!" he ordered calmly as he dug out his own cell phone. "I'll get in touch with Carlos and T.J."

"And I'll get a hold of Jen and Cole. They can work to get the other active Rangers on top of what's going on and get sorted out. If you can leave us a basic communication code, we have a device from the future we can use to get a hold of you guys at any time."

Feeling a little relieved that action was being taken, Cam nodded and quietly thanked them before leaving a code that would allow their communications device to contact them.

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Hope you like it. Shouldn't be too much more until the end of this fic. Then again... You never know. How many of you have fallen asleep at this point? (Throws Hunter and Blake into the crowd in nothing but towels) Hope that wakes you up a little! LOL!

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"Hunter, it might be Blake."

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R+R please

Thank you.

Tenshi


	63. The Search Continues

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**Last Time**

"And I'll get a hold of Jen and Cole. They can work to get the other active Rangers on top of what's going on and get sorted out. If you can leave us a basic communication code, we have a device from the future we can use to get a hold of you guys at any time."

Feeling a little relieved that action was being taken, Cam nodded and quietly thanked them before leaving a code that would allow their communications device to contact them.

**This Time**

(With Crimson Team, Kendra's POV)

We'd been walking for a while and I wasn't sure what to think, say or do. Tori was drained out of worry and if she'd been Dragon Clan, she'd have changed a long time ago. Hunter was sleeping fitfully in my arms, although it was periodically broken when he'd start to squirm and with a squeak, jerk awake.

I could only guess that he was dreaming about his brother being taken.

Carly was drained but kept going, one hand on Tori's arm now and again to make sure she was alright, and my back was burning from the wound I never bothered to heal, and I was exhausted. We'd finally made it a little ways into the woods, and it was dark. Bodies still littered the ground, but not so many. I think we were a little off track, but not by much. Lizard folk wandered the woods, my guess, survivors who couldn't fight.

Like us, there were females, children and elderly that often were in no shape to fight, so they lived in hidden forest homes. They were also fairly peaceful, and left us alone, knowing we weren't a threat.

"This is my first time seeing them up close like this." Tori stated in a subdued voice as she side stepped a hurrying lizard. "They're like... I dunno, a race of their own. Like us but not like us." Her eyes showed her confusion.

Nodding at her I focused on the path, feeling my own worry eating at me. I knew how bad this was effecting them. As a Dragon Clan, every one of my senses picked up on their fears and pain. It was like a giant slap in the face, and I knew Carly could tell, too. _Hang on Blake, we're coming._ I thought as I felt my eyes narrow.

Hunter squirmed again, and I absently stroked his back between his wings, barely noticing when it seemed to soothe him and he fell back into a restful sleep. I kept a close eye on our surroundings. We passed through a small village of lizard folk, none of them even looking at us as we went.

"How long have we been walking?" Tori again. Not a complaint, but a simple question.

I think part of me knew she just didn't like how quiet it was in the woods. Other than the scuffle of scaled feet and robes, or the slight chatter of the lizards, there was not a sound to be heard. It really was disconcerting. "I think a couple of hours." I answered distractedly, feeling Hunter shift and one arm slip down to hang limply as I walked. If the situation wasn't so grim, I think I'd have found it pretty cute.

As it was, I took the small scaled claw in one hang and rubbed the back of it with my thumb as I bypassed another lizard folk.

"We'll find him soon, right?" she seemed uncertain, but it was obvious she was trying to be strong.

It couldn't have helped that the only other person in our group that she really knew was stuck in dragon form and suffering just as much, if not worse than she was. Looking down at Hunter I sighed and stopped. I turned to Tori and carefully held him out to her shoulder. "Hunter, wake up." I called softly, hoping his dragon side would be more awake and understand what I wanted him to do. "Hunter."

Slowly blue eyes opened and he gave a toothy yawn. His eyes were glazed with sleep and pain and he looked at the shoulder in front of him before standing up a little, shaking himself out a bit and crawling onto her shoulders, wrapping himself around her throat gently before settling down and falling asleep again.

Her eyes widened momentarily before they grew a little calmer and she ran her hand along the tail that hung down her arm. "Thanks."

I wasn't sure if she was talking to me or him, but nodded a little with a small smile before turning and suddenly gasping. "Oh!" There, behind me was a little gryphon. "Hello there." I held out my recently vacated arms and the little golden creature landed softly in them, looking at me. "Messenger, huh? What do you have to tell me?"

"Um?"

Remembering that Tori didn't know about gryphons, I turned to her and Carly. "Gryphons are gentle creatures that are typically used as messengers. They can't talk, but they can act like…." I thought for a moment. "Well, they can lead us to who or whatever sent it to us."

Tori's eyes widened. "Do you think…?"

"Blake and Hunter didn't know about Gryphons. Really I didn't expect to see any. It's possible, but it wasn't him who sent it." I looked at the lizard folk and saw a couple looking at us briefly before continuing on. _Are they…helping us?_ " Wait…" Turning to Tori, I walked over and carefully nudged Hunter. "Hunter, sorry, I need your help."

He didn't stir.

"Hunter. It might have to do something with Blake." I tried again. "Hunter, it might be Blake."

His eyes snapped open and his head popped up.

"Look, this gryphon came to us, it's been sent to lead us somewhere. Can you tell if it touched or was near Blake?" Enhanced senses would be able to tell us if it was. Smell, if it had Blake's scent on it, that would be the proof we needed.

For a moment he seemed to hesitate but then he leaned forward and sniffed at the gryphon's nose. His eyes widened immediately, and I knew we had our answer.

"Let's go." I lifted my arms quickly and the gryphon took off. It didn't fly up into the sky though, it remained in front of me, turned and fluttered off ahead. "Follow that gryphon!"

When it knew we were following right behind, it sped up a little and soon we were racing full out. Hunter quickly jumped off Tori's shoulder, changed back, and began running with us, almost taking the lead. Honestly, I think he would have just taken off, if not for the fact that he knew almost nothing about this island.

None of us did, but we at least felt better that we were together.

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Hope you like it.

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"There! Over there! Blake!"

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R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi


	64. Found At Last

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**Last Time**

When it knew we were following right behind, it sped up a little and soon we were racing full out. Hunter quickly jumped off Tori's shoulder, changed back, and began running with us, almost taking the lead. Honestly, I think he would have just taken off, if not for the fact that he knew almost nothing about this island.

None of us did, but we at least felt better that we were together.

**This Time**

(Blake's POV)

The longer they were leading me on, the more mixed up I felt. Part of me felt beyond exhausted, but another part was wide awake. Ever since the lizard guy…or was it girl…? Well, ever since they put that gunk on me, I felt drained. It made me wonder if they drugged me. Then I just knew I was fighting it.

I mean, I had to get back to the others. Tori, Hunter… I was worried sick about them all, but Tori and Hunter were top of my mind.

"Come on guys." I groaned, feeling limp as two lizard folk carried me through the woods. I tried to keep up, but my legs felt like rubber. "Just let me go." Once again I tripped on a log as they climbed over, so they helped me over it.

_This doesn't make sense. If they were going to lead me to Lothor, why are they being…well…gentle? _

It made me feel a little safer. They didn't seem to have any intention of hurting me, which gave me a little hope that they weren't taking me to Lothor as a captive. It also gave me hope that the others-

"Blake!"

For a moment I could only blink. It was beyond weird that I'd just been thinking about the others and… _Man, I think I'm hearing things!_

"Blake?!"

I stumbled again and almost fell, but the lizard folk managed to catch me. _Just stop walking for a moment already!_ I thought in irritation. No matter how much I stumbled, they kept walking as if my weight didn't even slow them down.

As if hearing me, they stopped walking. Their noses lifted to the air and seemed to sniff a moment before exchanging a glance.

"Blake!!" Carly's voice.

Taking me over to a bunch of boulders, I tried to struggle as they leaned me against it. For a moment, my mind flashed back to our trip across the river back when we'd just bonded with our dragon spirits, then to the boulder in the field, when I'd woken up to those spiders on me, and then to when Tori screamed and brushed some off her with her powers.

I had no idea if there were more spiders here, and I was freaking. My legs felt like jelly, I could barely keep my eyes open, but my struggles were in vain as they sat me down on the boulder and turned, running off into the dark woods. I didn't even stop to think, I just remember fighting with all my energy to get off those rocks.

"Blake!!" Hunter.

"Blake! Answer us! Come on, where are you?!" That was Kendra

The voices were louder now, I could hear distant voices calling to me. _Bro?!_ I tried to get my mouth to work, but I could barely move at all. I remember falling to the ground, and I remember struggling to crawl across the ground. There was a dull ache in my side, reminding me of my wound, but I tried to ignore it.

"Blake! Bro!"

They were close. I felt my mouth open, but no sound came out but a choked wheeze. Breathing was easy, talking was another matter. Closing my eyes, I tried to contact Hunter mentally, but again got no answer. I wasn't even sure if my mind was open to him, or if we were still blocked. I wasn't thinking. All I could think about was trying to get their attention.

"There! Over there! Blake!" There was Tori.

_Tori?_ There were no words to describe how I felt to hear her and Hunter calling my name. They were ok. They were alive and they seemed alright. _Hunter…_ Knowing they were ok, knowing there were almost here, it allowed me to relax. The one thing I refused to do before, and as I relaxed, I found myself giving in to blissful darkness, barely aware of changing into my dragon form before doing so.

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Hope you like it

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_Come on, answer me. Please._

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R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi


	65. The Journey Continues

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**Last Time**

_Tori?_ There were no words to describe how I felt to hear her and Hunter calling my name. They were ok. They were alive and they seemed alright. _Hunter…_ Knowing they were ok, knowing there were almost here, it allowed me to relax. The one thing I refused to do before, and as I relaxed, I found myself giving in to blissful darkness, barely aware of changing into my dragon form before doing so.

**This Time**

(Normal POV)

They'd been running for a while after the gryphon, and the longer they ran, the more worried Hunter was getting. He began running through all kinds of scenarios in his mind. "Blake! Bro!" _Come on, answer me. Please._ The only time he ever remembered being this worried was…well…a very long time ago.

"There!"

Suddenly Tori's voice cut through his thoughts and he spun to find her looking off into the woods.

"Over there!" she began pointing into the woods.

Hunter's head shot around as he tried to find where she was pointing. Everything was still so dark. All he could see was the woods. Then a movement caught his eye and he zoomed in on the almost still form of his baby brother, face down on the ground, in his dragon form. _Blake… _So that was what it looked like. Oddly, the still form reminded Hunter a little, of a cat. But...he wasn't moving. He wasn't moving!

"Blake!" Unknowingly, Tori's voice mimicked Hunter's thought as she took off towards him.

Carly and Kendra immediately kicked into gear, following closely behind her, and Hunter shook out of his stab of terror to follow behind them. _Oh man. _"Blake!"

Tori managed to get to his side first and gently lifted him, cradling him carefully in her arms as she checked him over. "He's breathing." Her voice clearly stated how relieved she was, despite how worried she still was. "What's wrong with him? Is he gonna be ok?"

Hunter was frowning deeply and he carefully reached out to take his little brother's claw, marvelling at how tiny it was, and faintly recalling a vague sensation of someone holding his hand when he was in dragon form, not too long ago. Holding on for a moment, he turned to Kendra who was looking over his wounds. "Can you tell what happened?"

"Hm." Lifting his claw from Hunter's grasp, she looked at his side. "Claw marks. Probably from the harpy thing, but how he got them, I have no idea." She gently ran her fingers over his side and pulled them away, coated in a clear substance that smelled…sour.

"Dude!" Hunter wrinkled his nose and covered it with his hand. "That stuff's ripe!"

"And it explains what happened." Kendra finished with a look and giggle. "He'll be fine. That stuff's a medical gel that the lizard folk use to keep infection out of wounds and help them to heal faster." Wrinkling her nose, she wiped her hands on her jeans. "It's nasty stuff, but it does wonders. It also has a natural sedative in it to help the injured person rest and recover their strength. He's sleeping."

"In his dragon form?" That was also from Hunter, who didn't seem to believe his brother was alright. He seemed a little put out that Tori was holding Blake, but also had this look of understanding and remained fairly quiet.

Now Kendra paused but didn't seem confused or worried. "Lizard folk can't talk in the same form as us. They're purely telepathic creatures. Blake didn't know what was happening and probably fought it to exhaustion. That, coupled with the sedative, was probably more than enough to cause him to change."

"Or maybe he did it consciously, because he knew we'd have to carry him."

"He was sedated and exhausted and you wanna believe he consciously changed forms before passing out?" Hunter seemed to think about it for a moment before nodding thoughtfully as though it made perfect sense to him. Sighing heavily, he looked at his brother silently a moment, before turning to Kendra. "I'm guessing we don't have the time to sit here and relax for a little bit."

Raising an eyebrow at him, she shook her head and slowly stood up. "No, we've lost time already."

Looking around, he raised his own eyebrow. "Well it doesn't look like we're way off path."

"No." She followed his gaze. "If anything, we're more on track than we were before. The lizard folk probably brought him here."

"And what tells you that?"

"He's wet. We passed a giant pond earlier." Was her calm response as she pointed to his damn scales and how Tori's arms seemed to have a couple water streaks down them.

Nodding again, the group once again began their trek through the woods, following the trail of bodies and knowing they were getting closer as the number of bodies increased. A little ways into their journey, Tori turned to Hunter and smiled a little, gently rubbing Blake's back as she slowly held him out.

He hesitated a moment before reaching out and taking the offered dragon. Holding him close to his chest, he couldn't help the soft smile as Blake shifted a little and curled into a ball, facing Hunter's chest, with his talk wrapped around his body, the tip resting over his nose.

"Guys." Kendra's voice was wary and she looked to Carly as if to confirm something.

Looking up at them, Hunter focused and found himself hearing a strange…sound. It was like a hiss, or something moving through the grass. There was also a very sweet, almost sickly sweet smell that made Hunter cringe. "Do I even dare ask?"

Shuddering violently, Carly frowned and glared around. "Well, smell that?" At everyone's nod, she sighed. "Caro Trees."

Blinking for a moment, Tori seemed to recall something. "The evil man eating plants that can disguise themselves as really pretty, harmless trees? Then that smell… But we didn't run into them before. How do we fight them?"

"We can try to move around them. Or we use powers to beat them. Dragon form or fire are probably the best ways to deal with them." Kendra sighed. "The only problem is we won't be able to easily find the trees, or fight them. We'll see the trees, and we'll probably know they're the bad ones, but they have tentacles we won't see, and remember that they can poison us with an acid that can literally eat away at us."

"Joy." Hunter didn't look pleased. "This is _just_ what we need. We're on a time limit, time's already against us, and we have to deal with pretty much every defense that was supposed to stop Lothor. I don't suppose we can cheat, can we?"

Quirking a dry grin, Kendra shook her head. "Nope, sorry."

With a groan, they continued on, hoping they'd be able to avoid the trees, and get to Lothor before it was too late.

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Hope you like it

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"Wes, Time Force Red, reporting for duty!"

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R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi


	66. Worries Abound

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**Last Time**

Quirking a dry grin, Kendra shook her head. "Nope, sorry."

With a groan, they continued on, hoping they'd be able to avoid the trees, and get to Lothor before it was too late.

**This Time**

(With Red Team, Cam's POV)

I don't think I'd ever been run so ragged. Between trying in vain to contact Hunter's team, and getting no response, and trying to get Blue Bay Harbor's people set up… I kept wondering what I was going to forget and when. When was I going to mess up.

Honestly, despite his smug attitude, Wes had been a big help. He'd managed to contact us to let us know a few teams had responded already, saying they were getting people in their area set up, and others were still coming in whenever they could. Now it was up to us to help Blue Bay people set up their defenses.

"Dude, I got more truck loads of bottled water coming in, an they like, said more were heading to other cities as we speak." Dustin came up in a rush, carrying some boards, with a tool belt around his waist carrying a hammer and nails. "And I'm helping them board up the windows on the theatre now."

"And I'm working with the mall." Shane added as he rushed past with more boards and a couple of people.

The bottled water was on it's way, the police were making sure people weren't hoarding the water, or looting in the panic. The three of us were working on boarding up the buildings as fast as possible. Residents were working on their homes, and us, along with other people, were working on office buildings.

I think, the thing about all this that disturbed me the most, was that there was almost guarantee that we'd lose people. There was no way we could save them all, but I was certainly going to try my hardest. "Alright, that's good. Thanks." I stated in what I knew must have been a distracted tone.

I knew I should have been helping them, but I was looking up ways to possibly extend a shield over the city, then expanding it to cover the planet.

Only one problem… How did I know if the energy burst would even leave the planet, or if the shield would stop it? If nothing else, I knew this was a waste of time, but that didn't stop me from typing away on my laptop, trying to find a way around all this.

"Dude, we could use some help." Dustin called as he helped a man steady a board.

_Just one…more…minute._ The screen beeped, showing again there were too many variables to give an accurate result, but it didn't look good. With a heavy sigh, I closed the laptop and turned to watch the others a moment. _The zords can't carry everyone, and what if we need them in battle? The protected areas where the academies used to be, aren't big enough for everyone, and I have a feeling the energy barriers won't stop this energy burst. Isn't there _something_ else?!_

"Dude! Cam! Snap out of it, bro!" Shane was walking over. "Listen, I know you're worried, we all are, but we need to focus!"

"Guys! Need some help?"

Snapping out of my thoughts, I turned to find two Red Rangers walking over. One was red with white shoulder pads with a red streak down the center that formed the same triangular shape that was on his helmet. The other was red with black marks.

Stopping and saluting, the Red and white Ranger nodded at me. "Wes, Time Force Red, reporting for duty!"

"Smart aleck." the other one grumbled.

"And grumpy here is Eric, the Quantum Ranger." he finished with a chuckle. "We were sent here to escort the mayor home after a meeting, before, so we figured we could help you out while we're here." Now his tone had turned completely serious. "What do you need us to do?"

_Besides dropping the attitude?_ "We could use help boarding up the buildings and distributing the bottled water." The answer was out of my mouth before I realized it, as if by an automatic response.

"I'll work with the bottled water, and the Silver Guardians can help me get it distributed." Eric offered with a wave as he turned and ran off.

Wes nodded a little. "And I'll get to work on the buildings."

"Dude, doesn't it get confusing having two Red Rangers on the team?" Dustin scratched his head as he walked up.

Nodding a little, Wes shook his head. "Like you wouldn't believe." His tone was dry. "We weren't always on the same side, just because for the longest time, I don't think Eric liked me. Whatever happened, we ended up becoming allies, but never really part of the same team. He helped us, but never took orders."

"Kinda reminds me of Hunter a little, only he actually listens….occasionally." Shane muttered in amusement. "Alright, we could use all the help we can get."

With a nod, Wes headed off with Shane to the mall to finish the first floor and begin the second, along with working on window frames and door frames to make sure there would be no leakage that would allow contaminated water in.

Dustin nudged my arm and we turned, heading off to the theatre to finish off all the windows, and then we'd begin the window and door frames and board up the other exits so there were only two.

The people already knew the only safe water would be the bottled water. The only safe havens would be these buildings, and no matter what, they weren't to leave once the warning had been issued.

My number one worry about that warning was… If we couldn't contact Hunter's team, it stood to reason they couldn't contact us.

How would we know in time if they succeeded or not?

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Hope you like it

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"I…think we should stop. I don't like this either. This isn't…the same uncle."

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R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi


	67. A Change of Heart

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**Last Time**

My number one worry about that was… If we couldn't contact Hunters team, it stood to reason they couldn't contact us.

How would we know in time if they succeeded or not?

**This Time**

"Kapri, I mean it." I hissed with a slight glare. "Look, I think we need to trust them."

Glancing to Uncle with a look, Kapri nodded slightly as he walked up to a massive cave. "I know, but…well…he's family. He's all we've got."

"No, what about Cam?" I couldn't help but shudder as I looked at the cave. I might not have been the brightest light bulb…on the… Well, whatever. I might not have been bright, but even I could sense the evil that seemed to radiate from that place. "He can help us, I think he wants to." It was freaky, like it was calling to us and trying to scare us away at the same time. I couldn't explain it. "I just…can't go anymore. I don't like this place."

My sister's eyes showed she felt the same and she cast a wary glance at the cave itself, as Lothor started in. "I don't wanna admit it, but… Ok, so he has been kinda acting strange…"

"_Kinda_?" Feeling my eyes widen, I stared at her in shock. _You can't tell me you didn't notice…_ "Kapri! That's not the same uncle who raised us!" My voice was raising a little and I hurriedly quieted it. I really didn't want to get him mad at me again.

Before, Lothor had a thing for blasting anyone who got him mad. Now, well, he'd already taken out a few of the kelzacks and lesser monsters who got in his way, or tried to run off because they were scared of the island. He wasn't just warning them or blasting them, but killing them now, too.

"I know!" she hissed back, glaring for a moment before her eyes softened. "I know, Marah. All our lives, we were raised to be evil. Do you really think we can just turn around and be good?"

"Yeah. I think so. I mean, it's just not hurting people, and we know what can hurt people, right? And not using our powers for our own gain-What?" Kapri was giving me a weird look, and I guessed she was wondering where that information came from. "I kinda heard Dustin asking Shane about the powers thing when Tori was going between them and someplace else. Remember when Uncle had Porky Pig…or, whatever his name was, running around? The guy he barbequed and ate?"

Her face turned green and she nodded with a look that said I could continue.

"Well, that time. Dustin was asking Shane about the powers thing, that's where I picked it up from. The other thing was kinda just, I mean, we were taught to use our powers to hurt people. Uncle taught us that, so we just don't."

"Ok, ok! I get the point! You're right, ok?" her eyes were filled with sadness. "I…think we should stop. I don't like this either. This isn't…the same uncle."

"So what do we do?"

"Marah! Kapri! Are you two airheads coming, or what??" Lothor's voice hollered from the cave entrance.

We both jumped, I don't think either of us could help it.

Turning to Lothor, I tried to think fast, not my strong point. "No! No, I mean-yes we're just…"

"We thought we'd watch the entrance of the cave, you know, because the Rangers are back in town." Kapri filled in, before barely hiding a cringe.

"The Rangers, yes, I forgot about them." Uncle seemed to think a moment with a frown on his face, leaning against the wall, and watching idly as a bunch of those yellow spiders made a wide detour around him, not daring to touch him after one tried to bite him and promptly died.

Marah couldn't help but shudder as she recalled how he looked at his arm and sighed before running dark energy along it and continuing on like nothing was wrong.

Pursing his lips, he turned to Zurgane and seemed to talk quietly to him a moment. Zurgane pulled out this hand-held scanner and began running scans. A moment later, he spoke to Uncle and he frowned, Uncle that is.

Then he turned back to us. "I hear we have unexpected company. Go. Slow them down. Do whatever it takes, and don't come back until they're destroyed or…" He shrugged and turned, walking off.

He didn't need to finish that sentence for us both to get what he meant and I felt my heart break that my own Uncle was sending me possibly to my death. 'Don't come back until they're destroyed or…they destroy you'.

Not that, that really made much sense, but now wasn't the time to think about it. "What do we do?" I asked quietly as Kapri and myself wandered off. "This is our chance. Do we take it, or follow his…orders?"

Kapri really seemed to think about it a moment before frowning deeper than usual. Her eyes were filled with the same confusion I was feeling, but she shook her head. Once we were out of sight of the cave, she stopped, grumbled to herself and promptly ripped off her uniform, as if being disgusted to have pink hair and be wearing the leather outfit. "I'm done. I want out." She was now her blonde self with jean shorts and a purple tank top and a black long sleeved button up shirt hanging losely off her shoulders.

I nodded and followed her example, ripping off my own uniform and brushing out my dark jeans, pink tank top and new, long dark brown hair. "Me, too. Let's go find the Rangers."

It was weird. I felt like I was betraying Uncle, and I knew we were. It hurt, but at the same time, I felt lighter than I had in a while. No more games, no more pretending. This was it. We were going to help the Rangers.

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Hope you like it.

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"Cam! Shane! Dustin!"

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R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi


	68. Almost There

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**Last Time**

I nodded and followed her example, ripping off my own uniform and brushing out my dark jeans, pink tank top and new, long dark brown hair. "Me, too. Let's go find the Rangers."

It was weird. I felt like I was betraying Uncle, and I knew we were. It hurt, but at the same time, I felt lighter than I had in a while. No more games, no more pretending. This was it. We were going to help the Rangers.

**This Time**

(With Crimson Team, Normal POV)

"How much father is it?"

"Not far now."

"You said that before."

"Yeah. That was about 15 minutes ago."

"No, that was at least an hour ago."

"Hunter." Kendra turned to look at the irritated blonde thunder ninja. "That _was_ 15 minutes ago."

Tori smirked a little but remained quiet and Blake, who was now awake, human form and walking beside her, chuckled a little. "Bro, it's true." He stated with a raised eyebrow.

Raising his own eyebrow in response, he grumbled a little before turning and walking on.

Now that they were through the field and forest, they were making their way through a swamp along the side of a giant mountain. Everything was green. The sky had lightened, and so had the tree canopy. Now they were surrounded in a slightly green mist, pockets of greenish water, and large trees with ling droopy vines and moss hanging off them.

"This place would be kinda…well, pretty, if it wasn't so creepy." Tori stated as she looked at the patch of sun shining on a trio of vines that led up to a clearly ancient tree. "Although it makes me glad we got past the Caro Trees." She shuddered at the mention of them.

"Dude, those things were nasty." Blake frowned and pulled Tori closer to him.

Suddenly, there was a hiss from their morphers and a crackle.

"….You……..me…. Hun…… …….lake…… ……ri……."

It sounded like Cam, but the words were clearly garbled, as if it was trying to break through some sort of barrier.

"Cam?" Hunter raised his morpher to his mouth and tried to contact the others. "Cam! Shane! Dustin!"

There was a lot of static and words too broken up to understand.

"We should keep going. They won't be able to understand anything you say, but the static might clear up if we keep going." Kendra suggested thoughtfully.

"Or it might get worse and block contact again." He argued.

"It's blocking contact now!" Carly groaned loudly. "And we're losing more time. We don't have a choice, you know."

He opened his mouth, clearly wanting to argue, but slowly closed it again and closed his eyes with a sigh and nod. "Fine."

"We'll try again, let's just go a little further." Kendra added softly, obviously seeing his discomfort and worry.

Hunter looked at her a moment, as if unsure how to respond. Then, slowly, he lowered his arm and nodded before continuing on with the group. The further they went, the lighter it got and the clearer the air got. Unfortunately, the farther they got, the stronger the darker presence got, as well. The morphers continued to crackle, but like Kendra had mentioned earlier, the words were beginning to get clearer.

"Guys, do you read?" Hunter decided to try again. "It's Hunter, come in."

"Dude, we've been so worried! What's going on??" That was Shane.

There were a lot of sounds in the background that Hunter and Blake could pick up on. "Are you guys working on the town?" Blake asked with a raised eyebrow, probably trying to imagine what they were doing.

"Yeah, we've got roughly half the town boarded up and we're working on making sure the rest is going well. You guys should see this place. Anyways, how's going with the Lothor hunt?"

"I think we're close. We lost contact, it must have been some sort of energy field or something." Hunter sighed and looked around.

"Well we've got help with the boarding and the work around the world. It's a long story, but there are apparently other active Rangers all over the world."

For a moment everyone on the Crimson Team just blinked in shock. "Other Rangers?"

"Like I said, long story." Cam groaned.

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**Side Note** - Thoughts and outgoing telepathic speech is _italic_. Incoming telepathic speak is _**bold and italic**_. The below quote is someone speaking telepathically, obviously. :P LOL

Hope you like it.

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_Finish that sentence, and you die._

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R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi


	69. Unusual Turn of Events

Ok, some of you will LOVE this chapter! I know I loved the brotherly bickering between Hunter and Blake. It was so cute! And so much fun to write! So...I got kind of caught up in it and made the chapter longer. HOPE YOU LIKE IT!

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(Hunter's POV)

Ok, so not long after we managed to get in contact with Cam and the others, who filled us in a little on the situation, I'd have to say the most unexpected and...weird thing...so far, anyways, happened. Here we are, just getting through the swamp and exiting on to yet _another_ field-

_**Dude, is it me, or are there way too many fields??**_

_Well, that works in our favor. No place for the enemy to hide._

_**Same problem for us, you know. Not to mention all the extra walking.**_

_Yeah, that's true._ Giving Blake a look, I raised an eyebrow and shrugged. For a brief moment, I wondered why we just didn't take on dragon form and fly over there, but then it hit me that it would not only drain us, Tori couldn't, and neither Blake or myself were good enough in the flying department to feel confident to carry her.

Funny how neither of us thought to ask Kendra or Carly.

Anyways, we'd just exited on to yet another field when we came across two people I wasn't sure how to feel about seeing. On one hand, from the looks on their faces, they weren't here to fight. On the other, Marah once managed to pull one over on Dustin, so... Honestly, I didn't really trust them.

"Hey guys." Kapri smiled a little, obviously feeling awkward and confused. "Um, we don't wanna fight, ok? Uncle sent us to..." Turning to Marah, she hesitated a moment before shrugging and making air quotes. "Take care of you."

"Yeah, but we didn't wanna. I mean, all of this is just..." Marah shuddered and looked clearly pained. "It's a lot to take in. I mean, we were raised to be evil, but this just...doesn't seem right. Not that being evil is supposed to be right, or something, but-"

"We want out." Kapri took a single step forward before hesitating as Blake and myself dropped into defensive stands.

Carly and Kendra exchanged a confused and wary glance, but didn't go defensive, and Tori just looked confused, raising her hands half way before hesitating herself. I don't think any of us knew what to make of this. I think part of me wanted this to happen. Wanted Marah and Kapri to change their minds, but I didn't want to believe that they had.

Was it personal? I had no idea. I thought it might just be me, but the look on Blake's face clearly stated he didn't trust them, either. Then again, it's us. Neither of us really trusted people easily. Especially after the thing with Lothor, which made me wonder how Kendra wormed her way into my heart, and I saw her as a friend when I really didn't know her well. Ok, so Carly was still iffy, but Kendra I saw as a friend. _Hm, weird._

Blake couldn't help but throw a smirk back at me. _**You like her.**_

_Uh, yeah. I see her as a friend, why wouldn't I?_

_**No, you **_**like**_**, like her.**_ Now he was trying to fight a laugh, and Tori glanced back at us with a confused look.

I raised my eyebrow and eased out of my stance, standing there with my arms by my side. _What?! Where'd that come from??_

He began to mentally sing, while trying to remain fairly serious looking on the outside. It wasn't working. If nothing else, he looked a little deranged with the semi-serious eyes, wicked grin and the whole... Yeah, he looked a little scary. _**You think she's cuuuuttte! You want to huuuug her, you want to kissssss he-**_

_Finish that sentence, and you die._ I thought darkly, feeling my face heat up. Glancing briefly to Kendra, who was giving us a look as well, I felt the heat increase and thanked god she had no idea what we were thinking.

Then she smirked and shook her head, and I think I nearly had a heart attack. _She can't hear us, can she?!_

_**Bro.**_ Blake bit his lip hard but was shaking a little from suppressed laughter. _**You're face is red enough to put a tomato to shame, but no. She can't hear us. It's just us because we're family, remember.**_

_Oh yeah._ Glaring at him, I turned back to Kapri and Marah who looked lost but remained quiet, as if waiting to see what we had to say. _Drop. It. Blake._ I warned, feeling his amusement seep through our link. _Or I'll tell Tori about that dream that Kendra visited you in. Remember? The one where you said 'She loves me?'._

Blake's eyes widened before he gave me a warning look and turned away, blushing, and it was my turn to grin. Quickly biting it back, however, I turned my attention to matters at hand as Blake cleared his throat and addressed the waiting girls.

"How do we know this isn't a trick?" He asked with a frown and raised eyebrow, easing himself out of his stand to fold his arms over his chest.

Kapri's eyes narrowed and she stuck her hands on her hips before pouting. "Isn't this what you guys wanted? We feel like we betrayed our Uncle, but we're here, willing to help you if we can, and you don't trust us."

"Can you blame us?" I challenged incredulously. "After what Marah pulled on Dustin? From what I hear, she was pretty convincing then, too."

"That's because I meant a lot of it." she put in quietly, a guilty look crossing over her face. "I did want out, I just didn't want to admit it to myself. And I liked his friendship, he was really nice. He understood me."

"And you betrayed him. I hope you don't think he'll be as easy on you this time around." Blake finished with a glare. Seeing that Tori was giving him a little bit of a look, stating that she thought he was being too harsh, he sighed and closed his eyes. "Look, we just don't know if we should believe you."

"Well then, let us prove it!" Kapri bounced forward a little. "We still have our powers, we can help you fight."

"No." Kendra finally spoke up, her eyes clearly torn. I don't think she trusted them either, but the look on her face said that she wanted to. "If you wanna help, you should go to Blue Bay and help the others prepare in case we fail."

"Oh! Uncle's close. He's entered this nasty cave with all these ugly yellow spiders all over the opening!" Marah stated as if suddenly remembering it. "Those things are so gross! And one died because it bit Uncle!"

"Um, Marah, it's Lothor, now." Kapri's face was sad. "He's not our uncle anymore."

Sadness crossed over the brunette's face, as well, before she nodded. "Right." Shaking her head, she sighed and looked at us. "You said we could help in the city? We can teleport there from Uncle's ship. I mean, _Lothor's_ ship. Ever since he came down here, it's been pretty much abandoned."

"Wait... It's _abandoned_?! What about the ninjas?!" I couldn't believe our luck! We're on a mission where the fate of the world rested on our shoulders, and the ninjas were unguarded! This was our chance, but we couldn't afford to take the time to free them! _Oh man! What do we do?!_

Blake frowned at me, clearly feeling the same as myself, but remaining mentally and verbally quiet. Still, I felt his worry and pain eating away at him and wished there was something I could do.

"Yeah, hey! I know! To show you we mean what we're saying, we can free the ninjas to help in town, too!" Kapri squealed happily. "And that way the ninjas are free and you can go get Unc-I mean, Lothor!"

I hesitated, looking to the others. Kendra was smiling a little, her eyes showing she liked the way this was going so far, but there was still hesitation. Carly just looked lost. She looked between the girls and us with clear confusion on her face. Seeing my gaze, she opened her mouth, but then quickly closed it again and shook her head as if to say it was ok.

Tori smiled a little as well. "That could work. Free the ninjas, that's that many more hands to help with preparing Blue Bay and other cities. We can forego some of the usual rules, since this is a world crisis, and we can focus on our mission without worrying about split attention."

"Keep their identities secret, but they can use their powers to help out, and ninja streaking can be allowed." Blake thought out loud. "That just might work. God knows Cam would appreciate the help." Turning to the girls, he nodded. "Ok, can you do this for us? Free them, tell them that they can use their powers to help but keep their identities secret and don't let on about the Academies? Then go and help Cam and the others?"

Both girls quickly nodded before waving and chorusing. "Leave it to us!" Then they disappeared in flashes of pink and purple.

Groaning a bit, I rubbed my hands over my temples. "This is just..." Shaking my head, I glared at Blake when he began the sing song voice in my head again. _Dude, I'll only say it once more. Drop. It. Don't forget, I got that dream to tell Tori. Would make a nice little conversation as we're heading to that cave, wouldn't it?_ I couldn't help but grin evilly, as Blake's face turned a deep shade of red. The sing song voice stopped immediately, and his begging me to stay quiet started up.

"I don't think I wanna know what you two are talking about." Kendra stated with a raised eyebrow and a bit of a grin on her face.

Carly nodded and giggled. "Especially with all that blushing, the glaring, the grinning. Hm, now I _do_ wanna know what they're talking about."

"Too bad." I grumbled as I purposely walked ahead of the group and into the field. Hearing their laughter behind me, I couldn't help but glance behind me. My eyes caught Kendra's and I watched as her eyes seemed to sparkle with amusement and she smiled. I couldn't help the small smile that I gave in response, and didn't even realise it until it was already plastered on my face. Looking quickly to the others, I cleared my throat. "You guys coming or what?"

Blake ducked his head with a warning glare that crossed with a pleading look, and nodded, and began following me. The others quickly followed him and we resumed our search for Lothor.

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Hope you liked it! I loved writing it!

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_Hunter! Blake! Focus here, impending doom on the way! No time to be teasing each other about your love lives._

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R+R please.

Thank you

Tenshi


	70. Kendra's Thoughts

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**Last time**

Blake ducked his head with a warning glare that crossed with a pleading look, and nodded, and began following me. The others quickly followed him and we resumed our search for Lothor.

**This Time**

(Kendra's POV)

Ok, so I was confused. Here, Marah and Kapri, who I'd only met in their dreams, were telling us they wanted to go good. Now, from what I heard, Marah pulled one over on Dustin, and was pretty convincing. I think they were serious, judging from the looks on their faces, and the fact that the evil aura that used to surround them was now significantly weaker.

The others didn't seem to notice, however. Carly just seemed confused, so who knew what she was thinking. I knew this was the first time she'd met them, so she had no idea who to believe or what to think. Also, Hunter and Blake dropping into defensive stands and glaring at the girls didn't help.

The big surprise was that Tori didn't. I thought if she was fighting them before, with the other Rangers, she'd feel the same way, but she seemed as confused as Carly and myself.

Then again, it was Hunter and Blake. They obviously didn't trust people easily, which kinda made me wonder how they managed to open up the way they did to me and Carly.

_Ok, so this...could be a situation._ I thought as the girls stated they didn't want to fight. I could sense the mistrust and suspicion among the others, as well as the confusion. _No one knows what to say or do. We wanted them to come to our side, but now that they seemingly have..._ How did we know it wasn't a ruse? I sensed embarrassment, feeling someone's body heat rise a little, and turned to find Hunter with a surprisingly red face. _He's...blushing?_

I glanced back to the girls briefly and wondered if he maybe liked one of them. I didn't see any other reason to be blushing. I mean, Blake was grinning wickedly at Hunter, though it looked a little strange, because his face was...well, messed up. He looked like he was fighting with everything he had to remain serious looking, but the grin refused to leave. It scared me, a little.

It also told me he was saying something to Hunter, probably teasing him. About what, I had no idea, and part of me didn't care to know. I felt my heart beat increase and a slight pressure in my chest, and pushed it aside, refusing to aknowledge that I might be bothered by this. _I'm not jealous._ My eyebrows shot up at the thought and I frowned to myself. _Well, I'm not!_ Seeing that we were getting distracted, I tried to catch Hunter's or Blake's eyes. _Hunter! Blake! Focus here, impending doom on the way! No time to be teasing each other about your love lives._ I thought as I raised an eyebrow and managed to catch Hunter's eye briefly. Once I caught his eye, I just stared at him a moment before smirking and shaking my head.

It seemed like a thing they would do, tease each other in the face of danger.

Imagine my surprise when his eyes shot open wide with shock and horror and his already red face turned deep enough to put a cooked lobster to shame!

_Wow, ok. So now I really don't wanna know._ I thought as I stared at him in confusion. _What was with the look?!_ Next thing I knew, he was glaring at Blake darkly enough to scare me even more than Blake's slightly insane look earlier, and Blake's face turned red before turning white and a glare replaced the teasing look.

So we ended up in a discussion with the girls, the guys exchanging that they didn't trust them, and he girls stating that they should trust them. That they would prove themselves. I stayed quiet because I knew this had nothing to do with me, and I remembered with a little pain, how Hunter had reacted when I initially told him about talking to the girls.

Hey! I had no way of knowing he'd take that news so badly!

Carly, I think, remained quiet simply because... She. Was. Lost! It was written all over her face.

The girls wanted to prove themselves and stated they wanted to join our fight. This prompted my response. "No." It would be too dangerous. They'd be more needed in town anyways. "If you wanna help, you should go to Blue Bay and help the others prepare in case we fail." The discussion continued some more, with the revelation that Lothor made it to a cave, there were a big bunch of captured ninjas on Lothor's abandoned ship, and the girls were given instructions to free them, tell them important information, and then go to Blue Bay. I couldn't help but smile a little at their enthusiasm to help, even though I still didn't know what to think or believe.

I think Marah looked a little overwhelmed by all the information, but she beamed at the chance to be helpful.

After they'd taken off, I watched as Hunter seemed a little over loaded. He began to say something, then stopped, and a moment later, he was blushing and glaring darkly at Blake again. The same Blake who was grinning from ear to ear, before turning a deep red and giving a look that was a cross between a glare and a plead.

_How in the world do those boys pull off those facial expressions??_ I thought as I felt one eyebrow raise. "I don't think I wanna know what you guys are talking about."

Carly mentioned the blushing, glaring and grinning and then stated she _did_ want to know, and funny enough, I kind of did, too, but remained quiet. Hunter just got this sulky look and stalked off, mumbling 'too bad' half under his breath as he went.

This of course sent us all into laughter. It also made me realise just how deep he was. On the surface, he seemed broody and threatening, but he had so much more to him. He had innocence, a childish side that was adorable at times, a humorous side, a sentimental side, and a loyal, brother side that seemed reserved for Blake alone.

Then he turned back, and his eyes landed on mine. I stared at him a moment before smiling without being able to help myself. There was just pure innocence in his eyes when he turned back. And to my surprise, he smiled a little too. Not a grin, not a smirk, but a real smile, a happy one. It was quick and fleeting, but it was there. It really lit up his face and made his eyes seem to sparkle with an inner light, as his bangs blew across them in the light breeze.

_He..._ Feeling my face heat up as he quickly turned to the others, I looked down at the ground and brushed my hair out of my face. _He's got a really...pretty smile._ Ok, so he word that echoed through my mind was more along the lines of 'beautiful', but I wasn't about to admit that just yet.

After they left, we continued on. I knew that once we made it to the cave, we'd be there. There wasn't much to the cave, that I could recall. Now, don't even ask me how I knew the lay out of the cave, and not the island, it kind of had my head in a spin. I think it somehow related to my dragon side, but I didn't want to dwell on that at the moment.

"How much farther is it?" Hunter seemed to whine a little.

Basically, after we made it to the cave, there was a short path to a large room. A large room that held the gem. "We're almost there." I began to pick up my pace, until I was in a fast jog. I knew the others were right behind me. We were close, yes, but we were also almost out of time.

The cave was also filled with Dack Spiders, Ghouls, and Imps... At least, from what I knew, but that could have changed. Hopefully, in this case, it didn't. The fact that the Dack Spider died upon trying to bite Lothor meant they couldn't stop him. His cohorts maybe, but not him. It would be up to any other defenses to keep him away until we got there.

For once, I found myself praying for the Ghouls and Imps, hoping they'd be able to stop him.

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Hope you liked it

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R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi


	71. Doomsday Miracle

Ok, first of all, I'm going to include a little bit about a problem that had nothing to do with Doomsday. Personally, I don't see a lot of referrance to sexism, and it really bothers me, so as a bit of a filler, there will be a little something on that. A bit of a 'real life' problem, instead of fiction/fantasy.

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**Last Time**

The cave was also filled with Dack Spiders, Ghouls, and Imps... At least, from what I knew, but that could have changed. Hopefully, in this case, it didn't. The fact that the Dack Spider died upon trying to bite Lothor meant they couldn't stop him. His cohorts maybe, but not him. It would be up to any other defenses to keep him away until we got there.

For once, I found myself praying for the Ghouls and Imps, hoping they'd be able to stop him.

**This Time**

(With Red team, Shane's POV)

"No. I told you before, that goes over _there_." Pointing to a window that was still completely unboarded, I watched as a man stalked off with a slight glare. I felt a little bad, being so pushy, but he wasn't listening and I really didn't have the time or energy to sit there and try to reason with him.

We were all on edge. Some young women were being treated pretty badly by some of the young guys, because they were being kind of sexist, trying to do all the heavier work, and one of them had the audacity to tell one of the girls to go home and cook him a meal, if she wanted to help.

That ended with a slap and an argument between a good dozen people about sexism, before we had to step in and break it up. It made sense people were arguing, I mean, we've been working for hours, non stop, but the fact that some of these guys didn't seem to believe that women could do hard work, too... It was ridiculous! It made me glad Tori wasn't here. Ok, so I was worried about my little sister, but she would have ripped those guys a new one for their comments!

"Lady, you're just in the way, ok." One guy began to glare at another young woman who'd just finished nailing a board to a window, and was apparently looking for another one. "Just go home, or find something else to do."

"That's enough!" I snapped, seeing the flash of shock and hurt in her face. "Just stop it! Everyone! The world is facing a major crisis, everyone's _trying_ to help, and you're making sick comments like this! 'Make me a meal, honey'. 'You might hurt that pretty little head of yours'. We're trying to save lives!" Some of the guys managed to look a little guilty at their words, but I had trouble believing they wouldn't just start up again. "You know, there's a female on our team, and she fights just as hard, if not harder, than we do!"

"Yeah, and I ain't seeing her here, am I?" One guy shot back boldly.

Several people turned to him with shocked looks and moved aside, knowing he'd stepped over the line with that comment. The path they made for me, as I stalked past them, was impressive.

Glaring through my helmet at him, I managed a growl that would make Hunter proud. "No, she's not. She's on a monster infested island with some of our friends, trying to _stop_ the source of the danger! You think you're so tough? Maybe I should send you out there to join them!"

Ok, so they were empty threats, but I was offended. These guys were harassing the girls that were trying to help, and _dared_ to start on Tori.. That was _so_ not cool in my books! I wasn't about to send him to his suicide, but even my ninja meditation tricks weren't helping with how he was bothering me.

His face blanched, as we'd already described some of the dangers we'd faced, in detail. I knew he was recalling the monsters, and I also knew by his look, he had learned not to press my buttons.

"Didn't think so. Do me a favor, go work in one of the other buildings, and you might wanna lay off the degrading comments, ok?" My anger was beginning to fade, but with it, the burst of energy I'd had. Now I was exhausted once again, and I felt the tension still sitting in me, waiting to burst.

Quietly, he turned and walked out. I didn't know if he'd pose such a problem for the others, but I knew Cam would put him in his place if he tried, and Wes was with Dustin. Dustin could be fairly docile, but had his stronger points. I doubted very much if either of them would put up with this guy.

"Um."

Jumping a little, I turned to find the girl looking at me with confused eyes. They held gratitude towards me, but also still pain and worry.

"Thanks." she stated quietly, pushing her blonde hair out of her face, reminding me a little of a certain evil space ninja girl, and grabbing a board. "You didn't have to do that. I think.. I think we're all a little on edge."

"A little?" I grumbled. Shaking my head, I sighed. "He had it coming, you're not the first girl he insulted. Good work, by the way." I stated as I pointed to the last board she'd done.

Nodding a little, she turned a light pink before turning and going back to that window to place the last board.

"Are we...interrupting?" a quiet voice asked.

Jumping again, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, rubbing the back of my neck as I slowly turned and tried to relax. "No." I stated as I opened my eyes and gasped. There, in front of me, were the last two people I would ever have expected to be standing there. "Marah? Kapri??" My heart pounded in my chest as my eyes landed on the blonde, elder sister in front of me. _It worked? They're here?!_ When I'd talked to Kendra about them, I think part of me was praying for a way to save them, but I didn't dare hope. Now, here they were, looking fairly normal.

Marah had her trademark brunette hair done in a high ponytail and was wearing a pink tank top and dark jeans, no sign of the meatballs for hair, or the usualy leather outfit.

Kapri was also looking fairly normal, lacking the pink hair that really didn't suit her eyes. She wore jean shorts and a purple tank top with a black long sleeved button up shirt, and her trademark blonde hair. Her face wasn't as cheery as Marah's and if I wasn't mistaken, she looked a little hurt. But the look quickly faded and I wasn't sure if my eyes were playing tricks on me.

"Hey. We're here to help, and..." Turning to Marah, Kapri gave an actual smile, instead of a smirk.

Taking the hint, Marah showed me a large urn. "We brought a few friends to help, too. But...uh..." Looking around, she shrugged helplessly. "It's kinda a big gift, and here isn't big enough to open it."

For a moment, I frowned at them, wondering if they were really here to help. They didn't need to pretend, I didn't see them gaining anything from it, if Lothor was really about to get the gem, so why else would they be here? Unless... "Here, follow me." Turning, I led them through the office building, ignoring the strange looks Marah got for carrying such an odd-looking, _big_ urn, and took the elevator down to the main floor, where Cam, Wes and Dustin were working. "Guys."

Several people looked in our direction as I spoke, but I waved them on and beckoned the other Rangers over, before turning and walking out to an empty alley. "Ok, so proove you're here to help." I stated, wincing a little when my voice came out harsher than I'd intended.

Both girls winced, and looked hurt, Marah most of all when she looked at Dustin and he looked down at the ground in order to avoid her gaze.

After a moment, Kapri grabbed the lid on the urn and Marah grabbed the urn more tightly. I think we all, Cam Dustin and me, dropped slightly into defensive stands as Kapri pulled the lid off.

A dark purple mist swarmed out of the jar and several dozens of bursts of light shot out. One was slightly green tinged and flew off out of the alley, but the others quickly hit the ground and took the form of all the kidnapped ninjas and senseis.

For a moment, I stared in shock, before remembering the greenish light. "What was that one, the one that flew away?"

"Oh, probably Uncle Kanoi's energy." Marah stated cheerily. "You know, to turn him back human again?"

Relief soared through me at this. The ninjas were back, already obviously having been somewhat filled in on the situation, if their looks were anything to go by, and Sensei would be human again.

"We were asked to tell them not to show their identities, but they are allowed to use their abilities to help in any way they can." Kapri recited dutifully, looking for all the world like the cat that ate the canary. "So... We did good..." Her grin faltered for a moment. "Right?"

Looking to Cam, I watched him nod, and Dustin nodded more emphatically. Wes was obviously lost, and I made a mental note later to regale him with all the battles we've been through, with these girls. As for now.. "Yeah." Turning to them, I nodded and smiled behind my helmet. "You did good."

"We're all here to help in any way we can." Sensei Amino stated with a look that explained he was leaving us in charge of all of them, including himself, and the other Senseis.

As if in response, the other Senseis nodded and gave us encouraging looks.

There were at least two hundred students, filling every spare space in the alley, and some were out in the streets, or back in the doorway. Every last one of them nodded quickly and relaxed, waiting for instructions.

"Oh god, this is a miracle!" Cam groaned loudly, in obvious relief. "We can use all the help we can get!"

It didn't take us long to get sorted out. It was obvious that we didn't entirely trust Marah and Kapri, just yet, so we decided to keep them near us. Kapri would work with me and Cam, and Marah would work with Dustin and Wes. Once that was figured out, Cam began shouting instructions to the ninjas to go to the academies, grab all the spare wood and nails, and get back here to help with the building modifications. It was a group job. So different groups had different jobs.

Some went for food and water supplies, to take to the finished buildings. Others went to the academies for supplies, to help board up more. And still others went to the currently incomplete buildings, to help with the modifications.

All in all, things were looking up a little. Still, it did little to reassure us of the coming dangers.

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Ok, so sexism is worse than that, but I don't know how to do it well. This is kind of my first attempt at including it. I also wanted to show a little on the bond between Shane and Tori, in his head. Also, I wanted to show tension with Kapri and Shane. They like each other, but are kind of oblivious to it, and are awkward around each other.

So imagine her response to seeing him talking to another young woman. I thought she'd be hurt, and since she doesn't know how he feels, I don't think she'd be bold about it to his face.

And Marah and Dustin, I want to work slowly on their relationship, with her betrayal of him.

Hope you liked it. I haven't been doing too much writing lately, sorry. My mind is stuck on Stargate/Stargate Atlantis, but I want to finish this fic and the sequel before attempting SGA fics.

I do have one SG fic started, a multiple one-shot, thing. Just humorous drabbles, and I'm trying to include innuendo. Lines like, "Lovely bunch of coconuts", "Blue Balls (Ba'al, the evil Goa'uld)" and more. Just things that can be misinterpretend, like fruedian slips and the like. _Can anyone send me ideas, please? _That's the only SG fic I have started at the moment, that I'd like to continue. I also have one written about Cameron Mitchell with a can of mixed nuts. (Oh, like that's a hard one. Just LOOK at the innuendo it's dripping! ...No pun intended -.-' LOL)

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"These aren't...the Dack spiders I've come to know and despise."

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R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi.


	72. Surprise, Surprise

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**Last Time**

He looked at me in confusion and shook his head in a way that told me he didn't understand what I was apologizing for. I was about to explain, but the others reached our sides, and I just shook my head. "We'd better hurry. I don't even want to think about how close Lothor is now." Without even waiting, I headed into the cave, trying to ignore the pounding of my heart as I passed several bodies on the ground, and entered into the darkness.

**This Time**

(Someplace else, Normal POV)

"Are you sure?"

In a large room of some kind, a single person stood at a control panel and hit a few buttons. The room was dark, and you can't make him out clearly. From his voice, you can tell he's a man, but other than that, all you can see is shadows. The room is so dark, it's almost pitch black, other than the faint light coming from some computer consoles.

"Yeah, I just heard. Earth's in major danger!"

"From some kind of evil energy source? I thought we took care of all that." The man's frown could be heard in his tone.

There was a sigh, and another man moved into the room, tapping a small control he was carrying. In the dim light from the hallway beyond him, you could see he was wearing a uniform, but the door slid down behind him, automatically, sealing them once again in darkness. "I thought so too, but apparently this one was dormant or something." He tapped a few more buttons. "I've made some calls, we have people coming in to help."

There was a nod from the other man. "If it's as bad as they say, will the help be enough?"

"Don't talk like that, man. We have to be strong."

"I'm worried about her. I let her go home for a while, and now this is happening. I can't believe I didn't so with her!" Pain tinged the words he spoke with, and his frame shook for a moment. "If I lose her-"

"You won't. And, uh...don't take this the wrong way, but why are the lights still off?"

"She was pretty busted up. I'm still trying to get everything working."

The other man ran a hand along his neck and sighed again. "Do you think we'll have her up and running in time? I hear we don't have much time now."

"If we don't, we'll find another way there."

"I got a few Karovians to agree to help." Now the voice was tinged with uncertainty.

And for good reason. Upon hearing this, the first man spun around, and even through the darkness, his glare was felt. "What?! Do you realise what kind of danger you're putting them in?!"

"I know!" The shout was deafening. "They know. They still want to help. ...She wants to come, too."

"She-NO! No, no, no! I _won't_ let her come! I may not have much say over the others, our people, but _she's_ not coming!" The anger and worry took precedance in his voice, but his tone was firm.

"Sorry, bro. There's nothing much I can do to help you there. She's part of another team, they need her."

"NO! They have the other girl back, they don't need her, and I'm _not_ letting her go! That's final! Why are you even considering this?! She's-"

"I know!" A loud sigh, and the second man slapped the control pad he was carrying, down on the console. "Look, I'm not happy about it either! Do you think it makes me happy to know she's putting her life in danger?! I tried to talk her out of it." He picked it up and began pressing keys on the control panel in front of him. "You're not even focusing, look. The power isn't coming on, because we need new power cells."

The responding voice was low and filled with warning. "Don't change the subject."

"I'm not." came the surprisingly serious response. "And I'm not finished. We don't want her to go. We need all the help we can get, and the women we love are directly involved whether we like it or not." Some keys were pressed and the lights came up a little. "We're going to need to find power cells. I don't think that will take long, other than that, we're almost ready to go."

Silence filled the room again, and the first man, who had long, blonde and brown streaked hair and green eyes, frowned at the console. He wore a silver uniform, with his jacket open and carrying the Space Ranger symbol, with a red long sleeved shirt under it. Strapped to one wrist was his space morpher. "I won't let her go." he stated stubbornly, looking to his friend.

The other man, with short blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes, frowned as he folded his arms over his open black jacket, with the trademark silver top underneath. "You can't stop her. I've already tried." Looking away for a moment, he growled and looked back. "Andros, it's already too late!"

"What?!" Andros glared at his best friend. "Don't say that!" he turned and began walking off, when his friend shoved a crumpled piece of paper under his nose.

"I went to talk to her, and found this in her room. Her stuff was already packed, and she was gone." the dejected voice stated quietly.

Hesitating, Andros took the paper and began reading. "Zhane..."

"I'm sorry, I did try. I really did. I don't want my wife being a part of this, any more than you do." The blonde man closed his eyes and tried to force back the tears that threatened to spill.

Letting the note fall to the ground, Andros spun to his old friend and shook his head, a new determination filling him. "Then that's all the more reason to hurry and get those power cells."

Ashley, his wife, was on Earth, visiting Cassie and the others. Karone, his sister, was on her way to Earth. No doubt that by now, Ashley and the others had already heard of the impending doom and were doing their best to hold down the fort.

If they were hurrying before, they kicked it up another notch, getting fuel, food and water, extra power sources, and setting off on their journey to Earth within two hours time. They both prayed steadily, that they would be able to beat the new Terra Venture back, and reunite with their loved ones before it was too late. They also prayed to get to Earth before this new evil could be unleashed, so they could help at least protect some of the people.

Besides them, there were two other versions of Decka, the ship they were using, and all three were flying to Earth. If nothing else, the ships would be able to evacuate people in groups to some of the safer Earth colonies in space, until the evil could be defeated, and if they needed them, the Decka Andros and Zhane were on, would still be able to transform into the mega zord.

That night, neither of them could sleep. They spent their time, making plans for immediate action when they got back.

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Surprise? How many of you figured out who it was right away? LOL. I won't be doing too many of these, since they are focused on the beginning of my next fic, but this was kind of like a teaser.

Also, no, they didn't forget about the danger earth was in, but I wanted to put their worries for their loved ones ahead of everything else. Especially since their loved ones were on the doomed planet.

Hope you like it.

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_**You liiikkeee her. You want to hugggggg her.**_

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R+R please.

Thank you

Tenshi


	73. Final Battle Approching?

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**Last time**

Some went for food and water supplies, to take to the finished buildings. Others went to the academies for supplies, to help board up more. And still others went to the currently incomplete buildings, to help with the modifications.

All in all, things were looking up a little. Still, it did little to reassure us of the coming dangers.

**This TIme**

(With Crimson Team, Kendra's POV)

"Man! Nasty!" Blake made a face and made sure to keep well away from the opening of the cave, keeping Tori close to his side.

The said blonde water ninja nodded silently in agreement before shuddering and leaning a little more into Blake's side.

The entrance to the cave was literally covered with Dack spiders, only now, they seemed more black than yellow. No, scratch that, they were completely reversed, as far as color went. The markings on their backs and stomachs, upon closer inspection, were yellow, and the rest of them were black with faint red markings that made them seem more deadly.

"These aren't...the Dack spiders I've come to know and despise." I muttered with a frown. _But, it could make sense._ "If Lothor is as close to the gem as I'm thinking, he could be using the power to change the monsters, somehow."

"Like that corrupted dragon thing?" Tori asked with a look, as thousands of spiders milled around the opening and even over webs they had created. "Then any other monsters inside..."

"Not necessarily. It depends on which ones he ran into, and if he really wanted to bother to stop and take the time to change them all." Frowning even deeper, I watched as they seemed to sense us, and their movements grew faster and more excited. "These things seem kinda...hungry. Hunter or Blake, can you guys please just...get rid of them?"

Immediately, Blake turned to his elder brother. It was clear from the look on his face, that he was leaving it up to Hunter, as he obviously did not want to get closer to the cave entrance.

Giving a mock put out look, Hunter shook his head with a sigh and walked forward. He obviously noticed the spiders getting more anxious and was about to raise his arms to call upon his powers when...

One jumped at him.

Now ok, he was at least ten feet away, if not more, but they were swarming madly over the entrance, moving scarily fast. Then, out of nowhere, one just launched itself off the wall and headed straight at Hunter.

For a split second, his eyes widened in shock and confusion, before he jumped to the side and the spider landed on the ground. Then, another one jumped, and because he wasn't facing the cave, he didn't have enough warning to move out of the way. This one landed straight on his back.

"Hunter!" I cried, taking a single step forward, only to be held back by Carly. Turning to her, I glared at her. "Let me go!" I hissed, disbelieving that she would attempt to hold me back when a friend was in danger.

"Power of Thunder!"

I jumped in surprise and spun to find navy thunder energy cracklin along Hunter's body, and the dead spider twitching on the ground. The said thunder ninja was checking what he could see of his back, running his own energies along it, and he seemed relieved when he found no sign of any bites.

"Power of Water!"

A large bubble of water shot out and soaked the spiders completely, that were still on the wall. Hunter took that moment to take several large, hasty steps backwards, in hopes of keeping the other spiders from jumping at him. At the last moment, he seemed to remember the one that had jumped at him, first, and turned, firing a pillar of fire at it as it was readying itself to jump again. There was a squeal, and the body of the spider spasmed violently before it collapsed and burned away.

Blake, having taken Tori's hint, looked to the other spiders and frowned deeply. Slowly raising his hands, he made several signs with them before thrusting them out and repeating his earlier phrase. A large bolt of navy electricity shot out and hit the spiders, coursing from one to the next, over every last one of the bodies.

It was oddly creepy. Thousands of black and red bodies, with hints of yellow, moving inhumanly fast over the walls, with navy electrical energies coursing along them all.

They shuddered violently, and a chorus of inhuman, extremely loud and high pitched screams shot out, making us all wince. Blake kept up the blast of energy, but they seemed to refuse to fall.

"They should have fallen by now." I mused out loud, trying to think of a way to kill them. "They're not immune to any-"

"Not _usually._" Carly interrupted with a frown. "If they've changed, become corrupted, it's very possible they're stronger than before."

I didn't know if the others heard me, but Tori raised her hands, calling upon more water, and Hunter raised his own, changing to his thunder powers to strengthen the blast. The three energies, Blue, Navy and Crimson, almost seemed to blend together, despite the difference in elements with the Blue and Navy. They hit the creatures, and they spasmed more, the screams rising in volume.

"And that did it." she finished, watching as the spiders began to fall off the entrance.

For a few moments, it seemed like even the trio of combined powers might not be enough. Spiders were dropping, but there were so many, it seemed like every spider dropping was being replaced by more. Then, patches of the rock walls began to peek through the hoards of squirming, squealing bodies that thrashed around. More dropped and hints of green crystals became visible. More yet, and hints of bodies on the ground became visible.

"That could be why there are so many." Carly mused, pointing to the bodies on the ground.

There were at least five bodies. They resembled the things called kelzacks. Well, four of them did, the other one was some sort of monster, I presumed. I'd never seen anything like it, and despite the two arms, two legs theory, it failed to resemble a human in any way.

Once the spiders had started dropping like flies, the rest quickly followed.

"Nope, Carly. _That's_ the reason for so many spiders." I stated, watching two large egg sacks hanging from the ceiling.

Without even hesitating, Hunter changed once again to his fire powers and blasted the egg sacks, burning them down to nothing in short time. "Ok, tell me that's all of them." he grumbled, wiping off his sweaty face and taking a deep breath. "Dude, if that didn't work, I'll go mega dragon and stomp this cave!"

I couldn't help but giggle at his choice of words, and the image of a massive, grumpy red dragon, squashing this cave like a bug. "No, I think that's all of them. If there were more, we'd see them by now." _I hope._

Nodding a little, he hesitantly started forward, hesitating at the fried bodies, and glaring unhappily at them as he warily made his way through. This was the most unnerved I'd seen him since he was trying to adapt to his senses, when he first bonded with his dragon side. Soon, though, he stepped over a single kelzack body and stood at the entrance to the cave.

I watched quietly, slowly making my way in his direction, as he squinted into the cave and frowned.

"I don't see anything."

With a relieved nod, Blake took Tori's hand and helped her over some of the piles of spider bodies, keeping a close eye on as many as he could, as if fearing they would come back to life.

I was stepping over the kelzack's body myself, and reached out absently, touching Hunter's back as I joined him. He stiffened up immediately, but looked back at me and relaxed a little, and I placed my hand more firmly before removing it and standing beside him. "Sorry." I almost whispered, understanding that I'd startled him.

He looked at me in confusion and shook his head in a way that told me he didn't understand what I was apologizing for. I was about to explain, but the others reached our sides, and I just shook my head. "We'd better hurry. I don't even want to think about how close Lothor is now." Without even waiting, I headed into the cave, trying to ignore the pounding of my heart as I passed several bodies on the ground, and entered into the darkness.

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Hope you like it.

Heads up, not too much left. Crimson team is nearing their objective, and Red team is about ready to set up. Next chapter is... A filler? It's a scene with new characters (existing PR character) coming in to the picture. I'll let you try to figure it out, since I tried to keep their identities secret until the end of the chapter.

Thank you all for your patience so far. This story turned out a lot longer than I planned, but I don't plan to keep it going much longer. The final battle of this story is soon upon us, and then you will have an (almost guaranteed) shorter sequel.

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"They know. They still want to help. ...She wants to come, too."

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R+R please.

Thank you

Tenshi


	74. Another Surprise

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**Last Time**

Besides them, there were two other versions of Decka, the ship they were using, and all three were flying to Earth. If nothing else, the ships would be able to evacuate people in groups to some of the safer Earth colonies in space, until the evil could be defeated, and if they needed them, the Decka Andros and Zhane were on, would still be able to transform into the mega zord.

That night, neither of them could sleep. They spent their time, making plans for immediate action when they got back.

**This Time**

(In the Cave, Hunter's POV)

"So, uh..."

"Sh." Kendra turned and raised a hand, pointing at me quietly.

For a moment, I paused, looking at her uncertainly, then I shrugged, trying to tell her silently that I had no idea what she was getting at. I was only planning on asking if she knew how close we were. Then, I felt my face warm up as she walked over and leaned in close.

"We have to be quiet and use the element of surprise to our advantage." she whispered, her warm breath ghosting across the side of my face.

I shuddered accidentally, and bit my lip as she pulled away with another look. Trying to ignore the obvious blushing, I nodded quietly to tell her I got her message.

Of course, Blake didn't miss on any of this and I felt his mental grin. _**You liiikkeee her. You want to hugggggg her.**_

_Stop._ I warned him in my mind, glaring at him through the dark caves. _ I could say the same thing about you and the blonde water ninja who's hand you haven't let go of since before we entered the cave._

_**You want to kissss her.**_ Blake kept going on as he stepped ahead of me, still holding Tori's hand. _**Don't deny it bro. Why else would you be blushing? And of course, I caught those thoughts about you thinking she was gonna kiss you...**_

_Blake..._ I glared at his back, as I began walking again. _I won't warn you again. If you're thinking I won't tell Tori..._

That's when Blake stumbled over something on the ground, and Tori wrapped her hands around his waist to keep him from falling. Once he'd caught his balance, I felt his embarrassment, and heard him whispering to her that he was alright.

_You likkkkkeeee her. You want to hugggggggg her. You want to kisssssssss her._ I thought back, chuckling quietly as his back went rigid. _Just curious, bro, but how do you like the taste of your own medicine?_

I felt this wall go up, and it felt like a mental brick wall. His thoughts were blocked out, and though I was a bit surprised at it, I couldn't help but laugh quietly and carefully step over the pile of rocks he'd tripped on, earlier.

"Boys."

Hearing the whisper, I watched as Kendra turned and gave us both a look with a raised eyebrow.

"Now's not the time to be playing around." Nothing in her tone was teasing. If anything, I could tell how worried she was. "We're almost there." With that, she turned and walked on ahead.

She was right, too. Not long after her scolding, we ended up at what appeared to be a dead end, and I was immediately reminded of the cavern where we bonded with our dragon spirits. Just like then, she walked forward and right _through_ the wall, and I didn't hesitate to follow her.

Walking through the wall, we ended up standing in a large room with several kelzacks, Zurgane, Vexacus, Lothor and a large pedestal with a black light shining down on it. In the center of the pedestal, looking completely untouched, was a small black gem that began to glow eerily.

"Well. It looks like I was right." Lothor stated in an eerily calm voice as he stood several feet away from the pedestal. "Marah and Kapri chickened out on me. Those airheads, I knew I couldn't trust them." Yet, despite his words, his tone didn't seem bothered at all. "So, you're all here. Kelzacks! Get them!"

"Don't think you're gonna win!" I spat angrily as the kelzacks rushed into battle with us. For a moment, I stepped back, keeping an eye on Kendra as a batch ran at her. I knew she could fight, we'd sparred already, but I wasn't sure how she'd take on the kelzacks. They didn't exactly go easy, like I had. Once i saw her jump into the battle, arms swinging around strongly, to connect and knock back the kelzacks, I found myself oddly relaxed more, and allowed the group heading my way to take my attention.

The battle went easier than I'd planned. Kendra, and I had defeated our foes with little to no problem. Tori and Blake were managing to keep Zurgane at bay, and Carly was in dragon form, effectively distracting Lothor from the gem.

Not that she was kicking his backside in battle, but she was keeping his attention off us and his goal.

"Hunter!"

Hearing Kendra's voice, my head spun to her, only to stop when I noticed Vexacus making a dash for the gem. "No!" I quickly shot out my arm, the energies already swirling at my fingertips, and blasted the said area with my fire and thunder powers combined, but he ran right through it, managing to grab the gem.

"Vexacus! You traitor!" Lothor screamed, his attention back on his goal. "How dare you betray me?!"

_What? You didn't see it coming?_ I thought incredulously as the gem pulsed dangerously and dark rays of energy began to encircle the said villain.

"You think the gem wanted you?" he shot back triumphantly. "You think it would want someone as _weak_ and _pathetic_ as you?!" He tilted his head back and laughed. "No! It called to me, telling me what to expect and how to get to it! You're nothing more than a puppet!"

I felt a hand on my arm, and jumped a little, turning to see Kendra gesturing with her head for me to follow her. A glance told me Carly was human again and slipping out of the room with Blake and Tori. I felt my...inner dragon, I guess, stirring, and a cold feeling of despair run over me as the gem glowed more brightly. There was a building of tension in the pit of my stomach, that I didn't understand, and I think I broke out into a cold sweat. I could feel cold water running down my face.

It was like I could hear this voice chanting in my head. _We can't let this happen! We have to stop it!_ Over and over. I felt the dragon spirit stir more, and was only vaguely aware of following Kendra. I could smell this faint flowery smell she gave off, and hear her heart pounding as her hair bobbed over her back.

_We're...running?_ I thought, trying to make sense of what was going on. I felt like I was losing control of everything. My mind, my body, my senses.

Speaking of senses... I shuddered violently as a powerful evil aura enveloped the room as we passed through the barrier.

"You can't stop me, old man!" Vexacus' now much deeper voice boomed through the room behind us.

There were the sounds of blasts echoing through the room, and I had no doubt Lothor was trying to get the gem for himself.

_Good, keep him distracted._ the voice seemed to echo in my head, and I shook it, opening my eyes and seeing Kendra looking at me. Seeing a glow, I looked past her to find Blake with his dragon wings out and spread wide, his eyes glowing a deep navy. _Is that...what I look like?_ I thought distractedly as the power seemed to grow more yet.

"Hunter, you need to let go. Relax and let the dragon take over." Kendra's tone was panicked and urgent.

I found myself looking down at her, seeing the terror in her eyes as her own beautiful wings came out. _Beautiful...?_ Blinking, I stared at her as her eyes began to glow as well. Belatedly, I looked over at Carly and noticed her in the same form with wings and glowing eyes. Then, I looked back at Kendra. _I can't...do anything. How do I let go?_

There was a sense that I didn't _need_ to do anything. I felt my body moving and watched, as if from a back seat, as the four of us took up a circular position around Tori, back to back. I had no idea what was going on, it was all like a dream, but suddenly the power seemed to itensify tenfold. I felt an electrical and hot sensation run through my body before the ground around me was enveloped in a bright crimson and slightly orange light, and a pillar of fire surrounded me.

Then were was a cold, fighting pressure, that I realized must have been Blake's energy. There was a warm, relaxing sensation, and another one that I couldn't explain, but those I guessed must have been Kendra and Carly's powers. I could just barely hear Tori's uncertain voice, asking what we were doing. She sounded about as scared as Kendra had looked.

The energies burst out, and I was barely aware of the all consuming heat and cold. The cave filled with beams of light, and they all shot towards the barrier, and right through it. A pained scream tore through, and I felt the darkness fade before returning to it's previous strength. But before, it had been growing and moving up, now I sensed it had stopped and seemed to have paused in it's journey.

It was like that for a few moments. The energy poured out of the four of us, and over the passage of time, I found I was able to tell that the power was moving really sluggishly, still upward. We hadn't stopped it, like Carly predicted, but we literally slowed it to a crawl.

Hopefully, it would stay like that, and we'd have the time we needed to finish off Vexacus and Lothor.

"Someone..." Kendra's voice rang out loudly in the sudden silence of the cave. It hit me how weak she sounded, and it brought home how weak I felt. "Call the others... They... They need to know..." Then there was another energy burst and the sound of something hitting the ground.

I felt someone move behind me, and the slightest sensation caused my already weak legs to finally give out. As I fell, I knew Tori was calling to us, and heard more thuds. Her voice carried across the cave, warning the others we'd failed, and then calling to us, one by one.

We'd failed. We'd tried, but failed. Vexacus was now our main threat, he'd gotten the powers. I wanted to run in there, make sure he couldn't do anything, or hurt anyone. But even as I opened my mouth to say something, I felt everything tilt, and the now familiar power rush that spoke of my transformation.

Then I knew nothing more.

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Hope you like it.

Only one or two more chapters to go before I start the sequel. Or there might be three...no, I might save that little TWIST(!!) for the sequel. :) LOL

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Sorry, not used to the whole _secret_ identity thing.

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R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi


	75. A Twist Approaches

Ok, I'd say maybe one more chapter after this. After this, I'm doing a kind of overview of what's going on around the world.

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**Last Time**

We'd failed. We'd tried, but failed. Vexacus was now our main threat, he'd gotten the powers. I wanted to run in there, make sure he couldn't do anything, or hurt anyone. But even as I opened my mouth to say something, I felt everything tilt, and the now familiar power rush that spoke of my transformation.

Then I knew nothing more.

**This Time**

(With Red Team, Shane's POV)

"Alright, we better start bringing everyone to the buildings. We're probably almost out of time." I stated, helping Kapri up after she tripped over some boards on the ground. Looking at her a moment, I couldn't help but smile behind my helmet. She and Marah had done their best to help us, and I actually was starting to believe that maybe, just maybe, they really were good now. "We'd better get the others." I told her with a nod as I started to a door.

"Wait, Sha-I mean, Red Ranger." Kapri jogged to catch up with me, a brief guilty look coming over her face. "Sorry, not used to the whole _secret_ identity thing." she murmured.

I nodded, my eyebrow raised behind my helmet. "It's ok. What's up?"

"Do you think...that if everything goes badly, we can help everyone?"

This made me pause. I wanted to. Every fibre of my being wanted to believe we could save every last person, but... "No. There's just too many people, and not enough of us..."

Nodding sadly, Kapri took my hand and tried to give me a smile, though I could clearly tell it was forced. "We'll save everyone we can. That's all we can do, right?" Then she made a face. "I...don't really know what I'm saying or doing."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Marah and I were raised to be evil. It's just hard to get the hang of being good."

"Well, you're doing a great job so far." I tried to encourage her, squeezing her hand a little. "Come on."

Heading to the elevator, we climbed in and I hit the first floor where Cam, Dustin and Wes were finalizing some plans. I think we made it halfway down when all of a sudden, the elevator shook violently.

Letting out a surprised cry, Kapri stumbled right into me, and I wrapped my arms around her waist to keep her from falling. "You ok?" I asked, once the shaking stopped and the elevator continued it's way down. _Man, that was too weird._

She nodded quietly, slowly moving away.

Why did I suddenly have a very bad feeling?

Once we made it to the first floor and climbed out, I stared in shock at all the people milling around. Families, with young kids, were holding sleeping bags and packs that, I guessed, were filled with supplies. They were talking to each other, and other people, and every last one of them seemed terrified.

I also took notice that the sky that managed to peek in through warped boards was a lot darker than it had been before. Looking around quickly, I found the others and headed over to them. "What's going on?"

They turned to me, and Cam sighed. "I don't know. It just got very dark, very fast, and people started racing for the entrance. We can carry about 200 people in this building, if we cramp everyone together. It won't be comfortable, but it's the best we can do."

Wes nodded. "Quantum and the other Time Force Rangers have spread out to other buildings. Time Force Pink, Yellow, Blue and Green have each taken a large building in Silver Hills. Quantum Ranger has taken another office building her in Blue Bay, and stationed groups of Silver Guardians in others still."

"I've heard that there are former Rangers in Angel Grove, who've set up places for people to hide." Cam added. "And news came from the Space and Galaxy Rangers, they should be here within the hour to start loading people on to their ships for protection."

Nodding back, I sighed and got worried when there was no news of the others. "What about Crimson Team?" I asked after a few moments of standing there, feeling helpless.

"No news yet." Cam began to sound more worried. "I don't know if we should call, what if they're fighting Lothor as we speak?"

"Dude, you set up a control room, thing, didn't you?" Dustin spoke up from Marah's side. "You like, brought all your computer programs?"

"Right, but I haven't had a chance to use it yet."

"Guys, this is Tori, do you read?" The panicked feminine voice called over our helmets.

Luckily, the comm units in our helmets were made so only we could hear them, and no one else.

Tapping his ear, Cam nodded. "We hear you. There's something going on outside."

"We failed." There was a noise in the background. "Kendra!"

"T-Blue Ranger?" I barely managed to keep from calling her name out loud. "What's going on??"

"I think the others exhausted themselves, slowing that energy thing down."

"So Lothor's got the gem?"

"No. Not Lothor, Vexacus."

I stared in shock at the others. This wasn't good news. "Dude! Don't tell me we now have Lothor and a super powerful Vexacus to deal with!"

"I don't know. We're in another room. I need help, I can't carry the others back to the beach! I..." Tori trailed off for a moment and there was a gasp. "Who..."

Another voice sounded in the background, a male voice, but none of us could identify it or what he was saying.

A moment later and Tori came back. "Um...nevermind? I mean... I think I have help... I think..." She clearly sounded like she was in shock. "And uh, I'm going to be bringing back a...guest..."

If only Lothor and Vexacus were there, who could she mean, about coming back with a guest? I was about to open my mouth and ask when there was a violent tremor, and people began screaming and crying. "Whoa! What's going on?!"

"We stopped the energy, for now. It's still growing, but a lot slower." Tori went quiet for a moment, before seemingly talking to the other voice. "I don't even know if I can trust you! Yeah, I know. So we're safe for the moment, but we still need to get back. Uh-huh, information? Ok, that's Cam's department."

"Blue Ranger, what's going on?" Cam called slightly.

"Look, we'll meet you in town. There's apparently information that might be useful. And I'm not really sure, but I think...we might have a new ally." After a particularly loud sigh, Tori spoke up again. "Dude, this is way too much to handle! I'm gonna need a massive vacation after all this!"

"We beat Lothor and Vexacus, save the world, and you can take as long a vacation as you like!" Cam stated vehemontly. "In fact, I might just join you!"

Again there was silence for a moment. "Um, right. Look about that, we might only have Vexacus to deal with. Anyways! We'll see you in town! Tori out!"

"Wait! To-Blue Ranger?! What did you mean...? Ah, man! She's gone!"

Hesitating for a moment, Cam turned and looked at the people. They seemed confused and uncertain, that there were _ninjas_ taking care of them, but none really seemed to protest, and slowly, the groups began moving through the halls, taking the elevators and stairs to the upper levels. "I guess we'll find out soon enough."

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Hope you like it

There's little to no talking in the next chapter, so I won't include a quote here. This will about wrap up this fic, and lead to the sequel.

R+R please.

Thank you

Tenshi


	76. The End Or Is It?

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**Last Time**

"Wait! To-Blue Ranger?! What did you mean...? Ah, man! She's gone!"

Hesitating for a moment, Cam turned and looked at the people. They seemed confused and uncertain, that there were _ninjas_ taking care of them, but none really seemed to protest, and slowly, the groups began moving through the halls, taking the elevators and stairs to the upper levels. "I guess we'll find out soon enough."

**This Time**

(Outside, in Blue Bay Harbor, Normal POV)

As if looking down from the heavens above, we can see the city of Blue Bay Harbor. The previously light blue sky had darkened considerably to an eery grey, and the dark clouds seemed to be spreading all over. The temperature quickly began to drop, and people were seen running through the otherwise empty streets, taking hasty cover in boarded up buildings.

Looting had begun by people who didn't care the end of the world was very well upon them, and rocks and bricks were thrown into windows. There were no police to stop them, as they had listened to the Power Rangers, and boarded up their office along with taking cover in other buildings. The hospitals were boarded up as well, and much of the medical staff looked warily out the small cracks between the boards as the skies got even darker.

A mother grabbed her child by the hand, almost tossing them into the back seat in her haste. Making sure her little one was alright, she quickly locked them in before going to the driver side and climbing in herself. Sticking the key in the ignition, she turned it three times before her car started, staring worriedly at it when it seemed to sputter and die out.

Her car was brand new. There was no reason for it to sputter.

As she drives off, we can see the boxes of bottled water in the back of her car, and she swerves to avoid a man running across the road with a stolen television.

Hoards of people are seen fleeing into their homes, or the boarded up buildings, and military trucks are seen driving down the streets, gathering the people they can to take them to safety.

(Silver Hills, Normal POV)

A Pink Time Force Ranger is gathering a group of people on the streets and directing them to an old clock tower. Looking at it, flashes of her time there, as it used to be her home, flash through her mind, but she quickly shakes out of them to pick up a seemingly abandoned little girl. Talking to her, she carries her to the tower and hands her off to a pink-haired woman in white armour, who is standing beside the Blue Time Force Ranger.

An older man with long, dark hair, is leading a group of young children to the same tower. Quickly he explains the teacher left them in their school, with no information of what was going on. His rage can be seen, but it fades as he holds the young pink-haired woman to him.

More military trucks are driving through the streets, people shouting orders from the seats. People are looting, and here there are off-duty police officers trying to stop them. Panicking, there are shots fired, and the criminals run off into the alleys as a singal form falls to the ground. There is more screaming and people begin running around even more panicked than they were before.

The Green Ranger is showing some large, half hidden buildings that had been boarded up to some aliens that run into them, thanking him as they go. Beside him the Yellow Ranger smiles behind her helmet, knowing that her boyfriend just can't help but save everyone he possibly can. Her gaze turns to the darkening sky as a shiver of dread runs up her spine, and briefly, she prays for the safety of everyone she knows and cares about.

A single man in a white uniform and slicked back black hair walks slowly down the streets. He sees the shot and fallen body and checks it before sighing heavily and continuing on. There's a young mother loading groceries into her vehicle, and he holds out a data pad with a frown as information scrolls over it. His thoughts are shown clearly in his face as she gets into her car and makes several attempts to start it before succeeding and driving off.

(Angel Grove)

A very pregnant woman rushes into a dinner that has been boarded up. It's Adelle's place. Inside are several former Rangers, trying to keep everyone calm. She stops short, seeing all the people, but then a young woman with long brown hair walks over and introduces herself as Kimberly Hart. Taking her hand, Kim leads her in and sits her down on a pile of cushions.

Out in the streets, people are running in every which direction. Only moments before, the sky had been bright, but now it was dark and foreboding. The sky rumbled with loud thunder, and some of the people pause in terror, having heard that it was _not_ wise to get caught in the rain. They begin to rush even faster.

A young woman loses her son, and turns to find a man with short curly black hair picking him up and rushing to her. Returning her son, he tells her the closest, safest place to go before rushing off to help an elder woman who had been knocked down by a rude young couple who rushed past. As he does so, he looks around, frowning deeply and looking to his useless morpher before sighing and continuing on.

Two people are seen running out of a boarded up area. Both are women, one clearly asian, and the other with long honey colored hair. They run to a large truck as several military people begin to climb out, and help them to unload boxes full of bottled water.

(In Space, on Terra Venture)

As the mobile space colony makes it's way to earth, people are seen rushing around. Two blonde women, one in a two piece leather outfit and the other in a pink and white uniform, are rushing to help people into their homes. Friends have moved in with friends, family have crowded together in smaller spaces, all to make space for refugees from earth.

Two young men are running through the forest, holding large sabres in their hands. One is asian, the other a tall man with short dark hair and dark eyes. As they near their destination, the taller man looks to whom is waiting there. His little brother. He stops, holding the sabre tightly for a moment before nodding with a proud sigh and handing it over.

Large, strange animals are roaming the wilderness, refusing the giant, makeshift shelters the people have created for them. A young woman in a two piece leather outfit, with long dark hair is seen sitting on top of the shelter, calling to the animals, but they refuse to come, and she can't help but smile as she shakes her head.

(In Space, Decka IV)

Andros is standing on the bridge, verbally encouraging the new ship to go faster as word of the spreading darkness reaches him. Images cross his mind of his sister and the woman he loves, and he once again begins coaching the ship to go faster. Meanwhile, inside, he's praying for their safety.

Down in the engine room, a soot-covered Zhane is laying under a console, working with wires. There's a spark, and he hisses in pain before pulling back his finger, sucking on it and making a face as he tastes the soot. Sticking out his tongue, he gives a determined grunt and reaches back in, trying to pull more power from the engines without overloading them.

On several decks, strangely dressed people can be seen walking around. There are not many, but they have purpose. Their determined looks, and simple greeting of nods, gets them far as they check weapons, quarters, and food and drink supplies.

(Turtle Cove)

The animarium, which, for a year now was stationed, hidden in the sky, begins once again to descend to the ground. A woman stands by a gushing water fountain, a look of pain and fear etched in her face.

Suddenly, five morphers and dozens of colored crystals are floating around her, and she smiles sadly before reaching out and taking hold of an egg. It's a soul-bird egg.

In the distance, the eagle screams. The lion roars, the shark jumps out of the water and lands back in before repeating the process. The bison stampedes through a large field, with other large animals. The white tiger roars and runs across the plains, running along side the bison. A wolf, an alligator, and a hammerhead shark are seen floating in the air before they too, join the others. A deer seems to sigh, it's mind on the most recent song from the princess and her guardian.

It has been far too long.

The animal zords are awaiting battles. They're anxious.

With the young woman, she hears a sound and turns to find a young man approaching. She wants to frown, to scold him for being there, but she knows how he feels. This is his home. Instead, she smiles, running a hand through his slightly longer hair as she gazes into his cerulean eyes. His morpher stops floating, and glows brightly before flashing to his wrist and strapping around it.

Three animal crystals float in front of him, and it's his turn to smile, even as the priness frowns worriedly. Looking at her sadly, he hears the roars of the animals and his smile grows before he pulls out his flute.

Once again the princess smiles, and she turns to the edge of a cliff. As he plays, she begins to sing.

(Blue Bay)

A yellow military range rover drives through the now nearly abandoned city. The engine light comes on but the driver ignores it as he continues driving. Even through his visor, he frowns worriedly as he sees a few more people running around. He orders them to get to safety, but notices that some don't seem to want to listen.

He can force them. He wants to, but he has his orders.

The Ninja Rangers are badly undermanned. Even with the ninja helpers. Military had taken over in many places, and the underwater base had been repaired, so people were being rushed there, or to nearby buildings that had been set up to protect them. Luckily, the new base is big enough to handle almost all of the population of the city.

Inside the vehicle, the driver slams his hand on the console as the engine sputters and dies. Turning the key, he repeatedly tries to get the engine going, but it's not even turning over.

The passengers inside are forced to walk through the streets. Taking a data pad of sorts, they climb out and dive into the nearest building, just before it begins to rain.

It looks normal enough. There's no discoloration to the rain, no smell, things aren't burning under it to show acidity, yet, as it hits people, they begin to scream in agony. Even trained Rangers, they can't stand the sight before them and look away sadly as at least three people are mutated into monsters.

(Reefside)

A trio of teenagers are standing in an underground lab as three more people approach. A red-headed woman takes the computer and gasps in horror at what's being seen, causing everyone to turn towards her. The young hispanic man in white gathered a sandy haired woman into his arms as she turns and buries her face into his chest, her yellow clad shoulders shaking ever so slightly.

A red clad brunette winces and looks away, the usual teasing grin long since gone off his face. Beside him, his twin does the same but puts a hand on his shoulder.

Then a blue clad young dark skinned man sighs and sits on the stairs, facing the ground as he runs his hand through his dark hair. Though his skin tone is dark, you can clearly tell he is pale as he looks up to his friends, a look of horror and pain written across his face.

Two more people enter, and a blonde woman walks over to the brunette man holding the video camera, hugging him tightly as a sob wracks her small frame.

Lastly, holding a crystal and a coin, an older man with dark, spiked hair and hazel eyes looks at the screen almost angrily, watching small groups of people being turned into zombies and the like. Looking to the items in his hand, he frowns.

The coin was out of power for ages, but he found a way to recharge them. Having sent the plans to friends of his in Angel Grove, he knows they will soon be able to call upon their powers again.

The lights flicker and his expression turns worried.

He _hopes_ they will be able to call upon their powers again.

The crystal is also out of power, but... No, that's not the case. Adam had said something about Billy returning to earth, having found a way to recharge them, too.

Billy...

Kim...

Two people he hadn't seen in years. Even after the letter from Kimberly, he couldn't bring himself to hate her, and he prayed for all their safety. Billy had been on another world for ages now, and this was his first time back. He'd only wished it could have been under better circumstances.

Now he looked at his wrist where a newly recharged morpher sat, the power eminating from the black gem inside. Taking another look at the screen, he closed his hands over the other items before placing them down on a counter top.

He'd had a choice. White, Red or Black. White and Red were his past. Black was his present.

He'd chosen Black.

(General POV)

The world was in crisis. Not long after Tori's call, the rain started. Wherever it touched someone, they were immediately infected with a disease. If they weren't killed directly, and transformed, they were left carriers of this disease. Slowly, they would die, not knowing they endangered the people around them.

The sky only seemed to get darker, as if the most powerful thunderstorm ever had suddenly hit. Winds had picked up. It was cool, but not cold. The streets lay barren, only monsters walking along them now. The stores were boarded up or broken into. Cars had smashed head on into other cars as people still struggled to get to safety.

Cities were ruins, and the only signs of life were the eyes that glanced fearfully out of cracks in the boarded houses.

The Rangers had failed. The world was doomed.

...Wasn't it?

**The End ... Or ... Is it?**

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OK! That's it for this story. Now for the sequel. Hm... So the Ranger groups I've shown may be in my next story, along with ones I may not have shown. We'll see then. And I don't remember where the Lightspeed Rangers are from, so I put them as being called to Blue Bay to help out the few Rangers there.

Hope you like it.

R+R please.

I'm going to put in an author's note chapter next, thanking my reviewers and replying to reviews. But not until just yet.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	77. Sequel Update

Hey everyone!

Sorry about the years since I last updated this story, or the author's note about the sequel. I've had people ask me if there's going to be a sequel and where it is... Well, I'm not writing it.

I tried, but my muse for Power Rangers has up and died on me. Completely. I'm completely out of writing for Power Rangers and have been for a while.

On the subject of the sequel... I had one started a long time ago, and posted, but lost the muse for it and never finished it. Since I hate incomplete stories on my profiles, I deleted it from here, but never from my computer. I managed to get a little more written, but between every day life, lack of muse, and other stories coming out the wazoo, it's been back burner for me. Not to mention, my writing style has changed a bit, and I don't feel right when I look back on the story. Looking it over, I want to rewrite the whole thing, but again...no muse.

On the up note, another author has volunteered to give it a shot, writing the sequel. They have what I wrote, and are going to do what they can with it. The author's name is **Aurora528**, and the title of the story is...

**Dragonlight.**

So check out what they've got written. If they haven't posted already, they should be doing so very soon. I'm sure they'll do a great job, and I'm looking forward to reading it myself. :)

Again I apologize for never actually getting my sequel done and leaving you all hanging. I honestly never expected that to happen. I'm experiencing deja vu as it is, because I've got a Twilight fanfiction (one of my best so far it seems) that is nearing completion, but I've been asked to write an extension for it, and my muse is slowly dying on Twilight. -.-' At least that story had a happy ending.

Take care everyone.

Tenshi.


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